How to write API code examples developers actually copy

API Code Examples That Get Copied

Developers copy code examples. That's not a shortcut — it's the workflow. Your examples must be complete enough to copy, modify, and run without any implicit knowledge.

The Minimum Viable Example

Every example must include: the full request (URL, headers, body), authentication, and the expected response. No gaps.

### Create a User

**curl**
```bash
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/users \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "alice@example.com",
    "name": "Alice Chen",
    "role": "editor"
  }'
```

**JavaScript (fetch)**
```javascript
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/v1/users', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    email: 'alice@example.com',
    name: 'Alice Chen',
    role: 'editor',
  }),
});

const user = await response.json();
console.log(user.id); // "usr_01HQ..."
```

Use Realistic Data

Replace placeholder data like string or value with realistic examples: real-looking emails, proper UUIDs, valid ISO dates. Fake but realistic data reduces the mental work of adapting examples to real use cases.