API Endpoints for Product Managers: Definition, Anatomy and Two Worked Examples

What is an endpoint? Define it, then illustrate it with two concrete examples. ```hint Anchor it in one request Picture a single call: what the client sends, to which address, and what comes back. Your two examples will say more if they do different kinds of work, not just hit different URLs. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Do you mean an endpoint of a web API, or the networking and security sense of a device connected to a network? - Should the examples come from features like LinkedIn's profiles, feed or messaging, or from any public API? - How technical should I go: method and path only, or also request and response bodies, status codes and authentication? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise definition that separates an endpoint from the API it belongs to and the server that implements it - The anatomy of a call: method, path, parameters, headers, authentication, request body, response body and status codes - Two concrete, contrasting examples, each with a sample request and response - Why endpoints matter to a PM: they are contracts that affect versioning, backward compatibility, rate limits, latency and partner integrations ### Follow-up Questions - How would you add or rename a field in an endpoint's response without breaking existing clients? - How does a GraphQL API's single endpoint change this picture compared with a REST API? - A partner reports that one of your endpoints is slow or keeps rate-limiting them. What would you ask the engineering team?