For Engineers Facing Dedicated API Design Rounds

Master the API Design Interview

API design is becoming a standalone interview round at top companies. Practice designing clean, developer-friendly APIs with engineers who have built and evaluated public-facing APIs at Stripe, Google, Shopify, and other API-first companies.

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One session with the right mentor can change everything.

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Sound Familiar?

You're not alone. And you don't have to figure it out by yourself.

API Design Looks Simple But Is Deeply Nuanced

Anyone can define endpoints. But designing APIs that are intuitive, backward-compatible, secure, and scalable requires a level of craft that most engineers have never formally practiced.

Few Resources Cover This Round Specifically

System design courses barely touch API design. Most interview prep ignores it entirely. Yet companies like Stripe and Google are making it a dedicated, high-weight round.

Your Daily API Work May Not Be Enough

Building internal APIs is different from designing a public API from scratch in an interview setting. The evaluation criteria focus on design taste, consistency, and developer experience.

Learn From Engineers at Top Companies

Your next mentor could be a senior engineer at Google, a tech lead at Meta, or a principal at Amazon.

Nicholas Runte Jr.

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Google Uber Nike

Zackary Cummings

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Nike X (Twitter)

Marge Miller II

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Salesforce Oracle Stripe

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Design APIs That Impress the Toughest Evaluators.

Your mentor has designed production APIs used by thousands of developers. They will present a realistic API design problem, evaluate your resource modeling, endpoint design, error handling, pagination strategy, and versioning approach, then give you detailed feedback on design taste and technical depth.

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Learn API Design Best Practices

Your mentor teaches you the principles behind great API design: resource modeling, consistent naming, idempotency, pagination patterns, and graceful error handling.

REST, GraphQL, and gRPC Coverage

Whether the round expects REST, GraphQL, or gRPC design, your mentor matches the protocol and evaluates you on protocol-specific best practices.

Real-World Design Sensibility

Go beyond textbook answers. Your mentor shares the design decisions that matter in production: backward compatibility, rate limiting, authentication, and developer experience.

Calibrated to API-First Companies

Stripe, Twilio, Shopify, and Google have the highest API design bars in the industry. Your mentor calibrates expectations to your specific target.

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Find Your Perfect Mentor

Browse mentors by company, expertise, and availability. Every mentor is vetted and actively working in the industry.

Book & Grow

Pick a time, jump on a video call, and get honest feedback and a clear plan for your next steps. Most users book within 5 minutes of signing up.

Real Results from Real Engineers

Don't take our word for it. Hear from people who've been in your shoes.

“

My mentor helped me navigate a challenging career transition with genuine empathy. Every session was focused on my specific goals, and the personalized guidance gave me the confidence to land a senior role at a top-tier company.

Ana Reyes

Software Engineer

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The mentorship I received was transformative. My mentor brought deep technical expertise and exceptional communication skills that helped me master system design. I went from struggling with interviews to receiving multiple offers.

Danish Kalim

Software Engineer

“

After months of preparation on my own, I knew I needed expert guidance. Choosing BeTopTen was the best decision - my mentor's targeted feedback on my coding and behavioral interviews directly led to my promotion.

Amruta Rathod

Senior Developer

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Got Questions?

Everything you need to know about API Design Interview

Which companies have dedicated API design rounds?

Stripe, Google, Shopify, Twilio, Plaid, and several other API-first companies now include a dedicated API design round. Many other companies include API design as part of their system design round. Your mentor will match the format your target company uses.

Is this only about REST APIs?

No. While REST is the most common focus, we also cover GraphQL API design, gRPC service definitions, and webhook design. Your mentor will focus on whatever protocol your target company emphasizes.

What is the difference between API design and system design?

System design focuses on backend architecture: services, databases, caching, scaling. API design focuses on the contract between your system and its consumers: resource modeling, endpoint naming, request/response formats, error handling, and versioning. Some companies test both in a single round; others have them as separate rounds.

Do I need to write actual code in the API design round?

Typically no. Most API design rounds focus on defining endpoints, request/response schemas, and discussing design trade-offs. Some may ask you to write interface definitions or OpenAPI specs. Your mentor will match the exact expectations of your target company.

How do I prepare for API design if I have never designed a public API?

Start by studying well-designed APIs like Stripe and GitHub. Your mentor will then walk you through the design process, teach you the frameworks for thinking about API design, and give you practice problems to build your design intuition.

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