API-to-Agentification Workflow

API availability and agent readiness are separate questions. An endpoint may exist but still be unsuitable for an agent because it lacks workflow context, stable resource identity, delegated authorization, previews, idempotency, readback, or auditability.

The work therefore starts with one target workflow and its intended consumer. The repository, existing interfaces, business rules, permissions, and manual handoffs should be inspected before a new architecture is proposed.

Every capability needed by the target workflow should be classified as reuse, harden, extend, build, or block. This prevents a team from treating every gap as a new endpoint and makes explicit which actions should remain under human control.

• Reuse a supported interface that already meets the workflow and control requirements.
• Harden an interface that needs stronger trust, security, or operational controls.
• Extend an interface that is stable but lacks context or workflow coverage.
• Build a supported boundary where no suitable contract exists.
• Block capabilities that cannot be made sufficiently safe or accountable.

The classification should produce an evidence-backed architecture and contract plan before implementation begins. That plan needs to cover identity, authorization, tenancy, transaction behavior, asynchronous work, errors, observability, versioning, and rollout.

Planning does not authorize implementation, credential creation, production access, or publication. A named decision owner should approve, revise, or reject the proposed boundary with the risks and unresolved assumptions visible.

Implementation should proceed under separate authorization and start with the smallest complete workflow. The finished path should be tested for permission enforcement, confirmation, stale resources, replay protection, idempotency, readback, audit records, failure recovery, and human escalation.

A restricted and monitored release gives the team evidence before access or workflow coverage expands. The application remains the system of record, and agent tools stay thin over the same domain rules used by the product.