API Surface Strategy Skill: What It Does and How to Install It

Helps you decide which integration surfaces to offer outside developers and AI agents, and in what build order.

Installs: 9.6K; on skills.sh
Stars: 9; on GitHub
Files: 3; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

api-integration-surface-strategy makes Claude write a sequenced plan for which surfaces your platform offers: REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SQL access, bulk data sharing, webhooks, SDKs, CLI, MCP and embedded components. It ranks them by reversal cost and audience, not novelty, in six steps that each end in a written section of the plan.

It loads when you ask which API to build first, whether to add GraphQL or MCP, or what a missing surface costs in deals. It is the umbrella strategy only; once a surface is chosen, per-surface design goes to sibling skills in the same repo. It bundles two reference files and no scripts.

Good for

Platform leads sequencing an integration roadmap
Founders asked to "ship MCP this quarter" who need to weigh it against other surfaces
Product teams selling to non-developers who still need an API

Install api-integration-surface-strategy

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the api-integration-surface-strategy skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add samber/developer-platform-skills
/plugin install developer-platform-skills@developer-platform-skills

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

The README installs every skill in the repo (61 skills/*/SKILL.md in the git tree), because skills here reference each other. api-integration-surface-strategy is one of them. Pick one route, not both.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Decide which integration surfaces a platform offers external developers and AI agents - REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SQL access, bulk data sharing, webhooks, SDKs, CLI, MCP, embedded components - and in what build order, sequenced by reversal cost and audience rather than novelty. Use whenever the user mentions which API to build first, adding a GraphQL or MCP layer, an integration-surface roadmap, API-first vs embedded-first, or a missing surface blocking deals - even if they never say "integration surface". Umbrella strategy only - once a surface is chosen, per-surface design belongs to siblings such as samber/developer-platform-skills@webhook-platform-design and samber/developer-platform-skills@sdk-portfolio-strategy.

Sections in SKILL.md

Interview
Audience split by buyer type
Brainstorm candidate sequencing plans
Workflow
1. Map audiences and buyers
2. Inventory current surfaces and the spec
3. Read the demand signals
4. Rank and sequence the surfaces
5. Write the per-surface handoffs
6. Set the review cadence
Failure modes
Measurement
Invocation examples
References

Key facts

Author: Samuel Berthe
Repo: samber/developer-platform-skills, which holds 61 skills
License: MIT (LICENSE, README, plugin.json and SKILL.md all say MIT)
Version in SKILL.md: 1.0.4
Installs on skills.sh: 9,613 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars (repo): 9 (Nov 2, 2026)
Last commit (repo): Nov 1, 2026
What installs: 4 files including SKILL.md: 2 reference files and evals/evals.json; no scripts
Needs: The other skills in the repo; the README says to install all of them
Works in: Claude.ai, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and tools that read skills.sh installs

What it includes

Asks nine interview questions before the plan.
The interview comes before the plan; its answers change the ranking in step 4.
Try: “We have a REST API and nothing else - customers are asking for webhooks, an SDK, and 'MCP support'. What do we build, in what order?”
Interview
Splits who consumes each surface by buyer type.
SKILL.md has a section on audience split by buyer type that feeds the later ranking.
1. Map audiences and buyers
Lists the surfaces and the API spec you have today.
2. Inventory surfaces and spec
Reads the demand signals for missing surfaces.
3. Read demand signals
Ranks the surfaces and orders the build, brainstorming candidate sequencing plans first.
4. Rank and sequence
Writes a handoff for each chosen surface to the matching sibling skill.
Examples named in SKILL.md include webhook-platform-design, sdk-portfolio-strategy and mcp-server-offering.
5. Write per-surface handoffs
Sets when the plan gets revisited.
6. Set the review cadence

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

This skill writes design advice and bundles no scripts, so the main thing to watch is where your agent saves notes.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It may save notes to developer-platform-context.md
SKILL.md says that when your agent keeps memory in a file, it should consider using this file name. Our advice: keep it out of commits if it holds company plans. github.com

Technical details

Scopes	Asks you interview questions and writes a design document from your answers

Questions

How do I install api-integration-surface-strategy?

Use the install box at the top of this page. The README says to install every skill in samber/developer-platform-skills, not one, because the skills hand work to each other. Pick one route per agent.

Does api-integration-surface-strategy work in Claude, Codex and Cursor?

The README documents install routes for Claude.ai (plugin marketplace), Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and the skills.sh CLI. The install box lists each one.

What does it ask me before it designs anything?

SKILL.md lists nine questions to ask first, and the answers change the later steps. Have your current setup and constraints ready.

Does it run scripts or need an API key?

It bundles no scripts. The folder holds SKILL.md, reference Markdown files and an evals file, and the skill works by asking you questions and writing advice.

Is api-integration-surface-strategy safe to install?

It bundles no scripts, so installing it adds instructions and reference files rather than programs. SKILL.md also suggests that, if your agent keeps notes in a file, it uses developer-platform-context.md. Our advice: keep that file out of public commits if it holds company plans, and check any figures the skill cites against their sources before quoting them to customers.

Which skill do I use once I know the surface?

This one is the umbrella strategy only. SKILL.md names sibling skills for each surface, including webhook-platform-design for webhooks and sdk-portfolio-strategy for SDKs. Those live in the same repo, which the README says to install as a whole.

Should I build an MCP server first?

SKILL.md treats that as a sequencing question. One of its example prompts is a CEO who wants an MCP server this quarter, and the skill answers by ranking surfaces by reversal cost and audience rather than novelty.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: samber/developer-platform-skills
Folder: skills/api-integration-surface-strategy

samber/developer-platform-skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 2

samber/developer-platform-skills README · github.com
api-integration-surface-strategy SKILL.md · github.com