openapi-spec-generation
Installation
Summary
Generate, maintain, and validate OpenAPI 3.1 specifications for RESTful APIs.
- Supports design-first, code-first, and hybrid approaches with templates for complete specs, FastAPI/Python generation, and TypeScript/Express decorators
- Includes reusable components for schemas, parameters, responses, and security schemes to minimize duplication across endpoints
- Provides Spectral and Redocly validation rules to enforce naming conventions, security requirements, and documentation standards
- Enables SDK generation for TypeScript, Python, Go, and other languages via OpenAPI Generator with customizable output options
SKILL.md
OpenAPI Spec Generation
Comprehensive patterns for creating, maintaining, and validating OpenAPI 3.1 specifications for RESTful APIs.
When to Use This Skill
- Creating API documentation from scratch
- Generating OpenAPI specs from existing code
- Designing API contracts (design-first approach)
- Validating API implementations against specs
- Generating client SDKs from specs
- Setting up API documentation portals
Core Concepts
1. OpenAPI 3.1 Structure
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: API Title
version: 1.0.0
servers:
- url: https://api.example.com/v1
paths:
/resources:
get: ...
components:
schemas: ...
securitySchemes: ...
2. Design Approaches
| Approach | Description | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Design-First | Write spec before code | New APIs, contracts |
| Code-First | Generate spec from code | Existing APIs |
| Hybrid | Annotate code, generate spec | Evolving APIs |
Templates
Template 1: Complete API Specification
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: User Management API
description: |
API for managing users and their profiles.
## Authentication
All endpoints require Bearer token authentication.
## Rate Limiting
- 1000 requests per minute for standard tier
- 10000 requests per minute for enterprise tier
version: 2.0.0
contact:
name: API Support
email: api-support@example.com
url: https://docs.example.com
license:
name: MIT
url: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
servers:
- url: https://api.example.com/v2
description: Production
- url: https://staging-api.example.com/v2
description: Staging
- url: http://localhost:3000/v2
description: Local development
tags:
- name: Users
description: User management operations
- name: Profiles
description: User profile operations
- name: Admin
description: Administrative operations
paths:
/users:
get:
operationId: listUsers
summary: List all users
description: Returns a paginated list of users with optional filtering.
tags:
- Users
parameters:
- $ref: "#/components/parameters/PageParam"
- $ref: "#/components/parameters/LimitParam"
- name: status
in: query
description: Filter by user status
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/UserStatus"
- name: search
in: query
description: Search by name or email
schema:
type: string
minLength: 2
maxLength: 100
responses:
"200":
description: Successful response
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/UserListResponse"
examples:
default:
$ref: "#/components/examples/UserListExample"
"400":
$ref: "#/components/responses/BadRequest"
"401":
$ref: "#/components/responses/Unauthorized"
"429":
$ref: "#/components/responses/RateLimited"
security:
- bearerAuth: []
post:
operationId: createUser
summary: Create a new user
description: Creates a new user account and sends welcome email.
tags:
- Users
requestBody:
required: true
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/CreateUserRequest"
examples:
standard:
summary: Standard user
value:
email: user@example.com
name: John Doe
role: user
admin:
summary: Admin user
value:
email: admin@example.com
name: Admin User
role: admin
responses:
"201":
description: User created successfully
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/User"
headers:
Location:
description: URL of created user
schema:
type: string
format: uri
"400":
$ref: "#/components/responses/BadRequest"
"409":
description: Email already exists
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Error"
security:
- bearerAuth: []
/users/{userId}:
parameters:
- $ref: "#/components/parameters/UserIdParam"
get:
operationId: getUser
summary: Get user by ID
tags:
- Users
responses:
"200":
description: Successful response
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/User"
"404":
$ref: "#/components/responses/NotFound"
security:
- bearerAuth: []
patch:
operationId: updateUser
summary: Update user
tags:
- Users
requestBody:
required: true
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/UpdateUserRequest"
responses:
"200":
description: User updated
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/User"
"400":
$ref: "#/components/responses/BadRequest"
"404":
$ref: "#/components/responses/NotFound"
security:
- bearerAuth: []
delete:
operationId: deleteUser
summary: Delete user
tags:
- Users
- Admin
responses:
"204":
description: User deleted
"404":
$ref: "#/components/responses/NotFound"
security:
- bearerAuth: []
- apiKey: []
components:
schemas:
User:
type: object
required:
- id
- email
- name
- status
- createdAt
properties:
id:
type: string
format: uuid
readOnly: true
description: Unique user identifier
email:
type: string
format: email
description: User email address
name:
type: string
minLength: 1
maxLength: 100
description: User display name
status:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/UserStatus"
role:
type: string
enum: [user, moderator, admin]
default: user
avatar:
type: string
format: uri
nullable: true
metadata:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
description: Custom metadata
createdAt:
type: string
format: date-time
readOnly: true
updatedAt:
type: string
format: date-time
readOnly: true
UserStatus:
type: string
enum: [active, inactive, suspended, pending]
description: User account status
CreateUserRequest:
type: object
required:
- email
- name
properties:
email:
type: string
format: email
name:
type: string
minLength: 1
maxLength: 100
role:
type: string
enum: [user, moderator, admin]
default: user
metadata:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
UpdateUserRequest:
type: object
minProperties: 1
properties:
name:
type: string
minLength: 1
maxLength: 100
status:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/UserStatus"
role:
type: string
enum: [user, moderator, admin]
metadata:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
UserListResponse:
type: object
required:
- data
- pagination
properties:
data:
type: array
items:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/User"
pagination:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Pagination"
Pagination:
type: object
required:
- page
- limit
- total
- totalPages
properties:
page:
type: integer
minimum: 1
limit:
type: integer
minimum: 1
maximum: 100
total:
type: integer
minimum: 0
totalPages:
type: integer
minimum: 0
hasNext:
type: boolean
hasPrev:
type: boolean
Error:
type: object
required:
- code
- message
properties:
code:
type: string
description: Error code for programmatic handling
message:
type: string
description: Human-readable error message
details:
type: array
items:
type: object
properties:
field:
type: string
message:
type: string
requestId:
type: string
description: Request ID for support
parameters:
UserIdParam:
name: userId
in: path
required: true
description: User ID
schema:
type: string
format: uuid
PageParam:
name: page
in: query
description: Page number (1-based)
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 1
default: 1
LimitParam:
name: limit
in: query
description: Items per page
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 1
maximum: 100
default: 20
responses:
BadRequest:
description: Invalid request
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Error"
example:
code: VALIDATION_ERROR
message: Invalid request parameters
details:
- field: email
message: Must be a valid email address
Unauthorized:
description: Authentication required
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Error"
example:
code: UNAUTHORIZED
message: Authentication required
NotFound:
description: Resource not found
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Error"
example:
code: NOT_FOUND
message: User not found
RateLimited:
description: Too many requests
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Error"
headers:
Retry-After:
description: Seconds until rate limit resets
schema:
type: integer
X-RateLimit-Limit:
description: Request limit per window
schema:
type: integer
X-RateLimit-Remaining:
description: Remaining requests in window
schema:
type: integer
examples:
UserListExample:
value:
data:
- id: "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
email: "john@example.com"
name: "John Doe"
status: "active"
role: "user"
createdAt: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
pagination:
page: 1
limit: 20
total: 1
totalPages: 1
hasNext: false
hasPrev: false
securitySchemes:
bearerAuth:
type: http
scheme: bearer
bearerFormat: JWT
description: JWT token from /auth/login
apiKey:
type: apiKey
in: header
name: X-API-Key
description: API key for service-to-service calls
security:
- bearerAuth: []
For advanced code-first generation patterns and tooling, see references/code-first-and-tooling.md:
- Template 2: Python/FastAPI — Pydantic models with
Fieldvalidation, enum types, full CRUD endpoints withresponse_modelandstatus_code, exporting the spec as JSON - Template 3: TypeScript/tsoa — Decorator-based controllers (
@Route,@Get,@Security,@Example,@Response) that generate OpenAPI from TypeScript types - Template 4: Validation & Linting — Spectral ruleset (
.spectral.yaml) with custom rules for operationId, security, naming conventions; Redocly config with MIME type enforcement and code sample generation - SDK Generation —
openapi-generator-clifor TypeScript (fetch), Python, and Go clients
Best Practices
Do's
- Use $ref - Reuse schemas, parameters, responses
- Add examples - Real-world values help consumers
- Document errors - All possible error codes
- Version your API - In URL or header
- Use semantic versioning - For spec changes
Don'ts
- Don't use generic descriptions - Be specific
- Don't skip security - Define all schemes
- Don't forget nullable - Be explicit about null
- Don't mix styles - Consistent naming throughout
- Don't hardcode URLs - Use server variables