There are lots of APIs out there.  And increasingly, new applications are mashups: mixtures of APIs.  I’m interested in patterns of how this works; how APIs are combined along with some secret sauce to present a unique perspective that provides new value to the user.

The components of API-driven products seem to be:

• Identity - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google
• Context - Friends, Contacts, Location, Interests
• Streams - Logs of opinions, links, events, transactions, new things.  Data.
• Action - Tweeting, Liking, Sharing, Email, SMS, Phone

Identity

This seems obvious, but a highly available global identifier is relatively new.  Logging in users via one of the dominant APIs enables access to context, streams and to target actions.  It opens the gateway to other APIs.

Context

Once a user’s identity is known, you can retrieve context about that user via APIs: who they know, what they like and where they are.

Streams

This is log data, broadcast by APIs.  Tweets, shares, songs, photos, etc.  Applications provide value by enhancing these streams - by augmenting them to create a unique perspective, by deriving new value from this perspective, by creating new value through increased understanding or enabling new kinds of actions.

Actions

Streams are input, actions are output.  They are the payoff - again, via APIs.  Sharing, posting, viewing, sending, logging.

Conclusion

This isn’t complete, but using this system one can analyze new applications and determine where and how they add value in this chain.  I find it useful.  More later…