Test and operate APIs
Retire and respond
Remove obsolete API versions, revoke old credentials, preserve evidence, and rehearse response to data exposure or authorization failure.
8 minute lesson
An API version is not retired when the documentation disappears. It is retired when callers and credentials can no longer reach it.
Measure real use, announce a deadline, migrate clients, block new credentials, disable the deployment, and monitor attempted calls. For an incident, identify affected objects and identities, contain the path, preserve evidence, fix related routes, and communicate from facts.
Deleting /v1 documentation does not stop an old token from calling it. Immediate shutdown reduces exposure, but measured migration may be needed for clients you cannot update instantly.
After blocking the route, watch denied calls for an agreed period. That evidence reveals forgotten clients without reopening the version or trusting an inventory that may already be incomplete.
Record real /v1 traffic, credential owners, migration dates, and the final block rule. Call the route after retirement and prove it cannot mutate data, then rehearse identifying invoices touched by a leaked tenant boundary.
Lesson completed