Documentation & Knowledge Management

Apiary (now part of Oracle) is an API design and documentation platform that lets teams write API specifications in API Blueprint or Swagger/OpenAPI format, generate interactive documentation from those specs, and run a mock server that returns sample responses before any backend code is written. It provides a collaborative environment where developers, product managers, and API consumers can design, review, and test APIs before committing to implementation. The problem Apiary solves is the “build first, document later” pattern that leads to poorly designed APIs. When teams jump straight into coding, API design decisions get made ad hoc and documentation becomes an afterthought. Apiary flips this by making the specification the starting point. You write the API contract, generate a mock server automatically, let consumers test against it, and only then build the real backend. This catches design problems early when they are cheap to fix. Osher uses API-first design principles in our custom development projects and recommends tools like Apiary when clients need clean API contracts for system integrations. Having a well-documented API spec before development starts reduces integration friction, speeds up parallel development (frontend and backend teams work simultaneously against the mock), and produces better documentation as a natural byproduct of the design process.