Resource Names Beat Action Verbs
Turn action-shaped endpoints into resource-shaped API surfaces clients can reason about.
Resource modeling works because clients integrate with nouns that persist longer than workflows. A resource is not always a database table; it is the thing a client can name, link to, cache, authorize, and revisit. When an API exposes actions such as /getCustomerOrders or /cancelInvoice, every new workflow becomes a new private vocabulary word. When it exposes /customers/{id}/orders and /invoices/{id}/cancellations, HTTP methods and representations carry more of the meaning. The mechanism is cognitive and operational: resource names reduce surprise, method semantics make retries safer, and stable URLs let documentation, monitoring, and support point to the same object. Richardson maturity is…
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