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How the API works

Use this section to explain how your API works conceptually, if your API is complicated and users must:

  • understand and use a sequence of API requests and responses
  • understand how different backend systems interact

Only include this section if you’ve discovered a need for it in your research and tested it thoroughly. This is because conceptual information can:

  • get in the way of developers finding the task-based guidance they’re looking for
  • be ignored or only partially read by developers

You should write this section as an explanation of flow or a sequence of steps, using numbered steps if possible. For example, see How the Document Checking Service works or How GOV.UK Pay works.