Aglet

Verify an API request schema repair

A schema repair should accept the intended request without normalizing away meaningful errors. Test complete, omitted, null, wrong-type, unknown, and boundary values through the real serializer. Inspect the wire body and the caller’s error state so a green request does not hide a changed payload.

Check whether the outcome improved

  1. Define field outcomes

    For every required and optional field, state accepted type, empty behavior, encoding, and expected error. Include nested objects, arrays, and identifiers that the operation depends on. Make the expected local state explicit for validation failure and successful submission.

  2. Exercise the repaired serializer

    Run the fixture set and compare serialized keys, types, content type, and server response. Confirm valid values are preserved, malformed values fail at the intended boundary, and unknown properties do not disappear without a documented reason. Check error text or codes remain actionable.

  3. Cover adjacent callers

    Use the same serializer from one nearby operation or client path. Repeat a representative failure and success, then inspect persistence or downstream state. Verify a retry does not send a mutated payload or turn a validation response into an unsafe write.

What to carry forward

Accept when valid requests retain their meaning, invalid shapes fail visibly, field errors guide recovery, and adjacent callers keep the same contract. Keep verification open for undocumented server rules or untested encodings. Record request fixtures, wire snapshots, schema revision, and client version.

Technical background: RFC Editor reference.

Keep the decision with the work.

Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.

Create an account See the product workflow