improve-sdk-naming

Improve SDK method naming using AI-powered suggestions or manual overrides. Covers both automatic speakeasy suggest commands and manual naming with x-speakeasy-group and x-speakeasy-name-override extensions.

When to Use

Use this skill when you want AI-powered suggestions from Speakeasy:

• SDK methods have ugly auto-generated names like GetApiV1Users
• You want Speakeasy AI to suggest better operation IDs
• You want AI-generated suggestions for error types
• Looking to improve spec quality automatically using speakeasy suggest
• User says: "suggest improvements", "speakeasy suggest", "AI suggestions", "suggest operation-ids", "suggest error-types", "get AI recommendations"

NOT for: Manually creating overlays (see manage-openapi-overlays instead)

Inputs

Input	Required	Description
OpenAPI spec	Yes	Path to the spec file (-s)
Authentication	Yes	Via speakeasy auth login or SPEAKEASY_API_KEY env var
Output file	No	Path for overlay output (-o)

Outputs

Output	Description
Suggestions	Better operation names or error types printed to console
Overlay file	Optional: saves suggestions as an overlay YAML file (-o)

Prerequisites

For non-interactive environments (CI/CD, AI agents), set the API key as an environment variable:

export SPEAKEASY_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"

For interactive use, authenticate directly:

speakeasy auth login

Command

AI-Powered Suggestions

# Suggest better operation IDs (SDK method names)
speakeasy suggest operation-ids -s <spec-path>

# Suggest error type definitions
speakeasy suggest error-types -s <spec-path>

# Output suggestions as an overlay file
speakeasy suggest operation-ids -s <spec-path> -o suggested-overlay.yaml

Check Current Operation IDs

Run the suggest command without -o to preview what would change:

speakeasy suggest operation-ids -s openapi.yaml

SDK Method Naming Convention

Speakeasy generates grouped SDK methods from operation IDs. The naming convention uses x-speakeasy-group for the namespace and x-speakeasy-name-override for the method name.

HTTP Method	SDK Usage	Operation ID
GET (list)	sdk.users.list()	users_list
GET (single)	sdk.users.get()	users_get
POST	sdk.users.create()	users_create
PUT	sdk.users.update()	users_update
DELETE	sdk.users.delete()	users_delete

The operation ID format is {group}_{method}. Speakeasy splits on the underscore to create the namespace and method name in the generated SDK.

Example

Step 1: Get AI Suggestions

speakeasy suggest operation-ids -s openapi.yaml -o operation-ids-overlay.yaml

This analyzes your spec and generates an overlay that transforms names like:

• get_api_v1_users_list -> listUsers
• post_api_v1_users_create -> createUser

Step 2: Review and Apply the Overlay

The AI-generated overlay (from -o) creates naming improvements using x-speakeasy-group and x-speakeasy-name-override.

Note: For manual overlay creation, use the manage-openapi-overlays skill instead of this skill.

Step 3: Add the Overlay to workflow.yaml

sources:
  my-api:
    inputs:
      - location: ./openapi.yaml
    overlays:
      - location: ./operation-ids-overlay.yaml

Step 4: Regenerate the SDK

speakeasy run --output console

Error Type Suggestions

The suggest error-types command analyzes your API and suggests structured error responses:

speakeasy suggest error-types -s openapi.yaml

This suggests:

• Common HTTP error codes (400, 401, 404, 500)
• Custom error schemas appropriate for your API

Output as an overlay:

speakeasy suggest error-types -s openapi.yaml -o error-types-overlay.yaml

What NOT to Do

• Do NOT modify operationIds directly in the source spec if it is externally managed. Use overlays instead.
• Do NOT use generic names like get or post without a group. Always pair x-speakeasy-name-override with x-speakeasy-group.
• Do NOT forget to add the generated overlay to workflow.yaml after creating it. Without this step, the names will not change in the generated SDK.
• Do NOT create duplicate operation names across different groups. Each {group}_{method} combination must be unique.

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
"unauthorized"	Missing or invalid API key	Set SPEAKEASY_API_KEY env var or run speakeasy auth login
Names unchanged after regeneration	Overlay not added to workflow	Add the overlay to the overlays list in workflow.yaml
No suggestions returned	Spec already has good naming	No action needed; names are already well-structured
Duplicate method names	Similar endpoints share names	Use unique x-speakeasy-name-override values for each endpoint
Timeout during suggest	Very large spec	Try running on a smaller subset or increase timeout