| name | dify-docs-api-reference |
| description | Rule pack for the Service API specs ({en,zh,ja}/api-reference/openapi_service.json): spec conventions, app-type scoping, code-verification rules, and the audit machinery. Writing and editing run under dify-docs-write; the standalone audit of an existing spec ("audit the API spec") runs directly from this pack.
|
Dify API Reference Documentation
OpenAPI specs for developers integrating Dify over REST. The code is the source of truth: when the spec disagrees with the code, the spec is wrong. Every detail you write must be traceable to a controller, model, or converter in the Dify codebase.
Not an entry point for writing — editing or creating specs runs under dify-docs-write; the procedures below implement its stages for the Service API specs.
Standalone audit (read-only, own trigger — no pipeline needed): auditing an existing spec is the app-type lens (procedure 1 below) plus Verifying Against Code applied systematically from references/audit-checklist.md.
Procedures by stage
All four are non-negotiable.
- S1 — scope. Identify which app types the operation serves from the AppMode table in
references/codebase-paths.md; every later check is filtered through that app-type lens (see App-Type Scoping). Read code at the ref pinned in S1 per writing-guides/index.md § "Syncing the Dify codebase safely"; never git checkout or git pull in a tree you have not confirmed is clean.
- S5 — write or edit to the conventions. Apply
references/spec-conventions.md for every element: summaries, operationId, descriptions, parameters, responses, error format, schemas, examples, tags, ordering. That file is the single source for formatting rules; do not reinvent them here. S6 modified per pack: all three language specs are edited directly in the same pass (see Spec Structure); parity_check replaces a separate translate step.
- S2/S7 — verify every detail against the code. Nothing ships unverified (see Verifying Against Code). Use
references/codebase-paths.md to locate controllers, error definitions, and global handlers. Flag suspected code bugs; never silently document them (see Flagging Suspected Bugs).
- S7 verifiers (after the spine's check chain): the independent subagent audit — required for new or substantially changed endpoints — and the example/schema consistency pass (both under S7 Verifiers). Substantially changed = any change to paths, methods, parameters, schema fields or constraints, status codes, error codes, example values, or availability; only pure prose rewording (summaries, descriptions, translations) is exempt.
Reader Persona
Backend developers integrating Dify apps or knowledge bases via REST. Strong coding ability; familiar with HTTP, authentication patterns, and JSON. Be precise about parameter types, required vs optional, error codes, and realistic examples. Do not explain what a REST API is.
Spec Structure
One spec per language — {en,zh,ja}/api-reference/openapi_service.json — is the spec of record. Edit it directly, in all three languages; parity_check enforces structural parity with en. (The five legacy per-app-type source specs and the merge pipeline that consolidated them are retired; recover from git history if needed.)
App types map to AppMode values. The one mapping table (docs names, spec groups, key endpoints, and the modes the Service API does not cover) is references/codebase-paths.md § "AppMode ↔ app-type names" — use it, never memory.
Shared endpoints (file upload, audio, feedback, app info, parameters, meta, site, end-user) appear once, with an availability line and per-mode notes in the description — a fix applies in one place, no propagation. tools/api-pipeline/memberships.json records which app types support each operation and drives the app-type overview pages plus check-coverage.
Every operation carries x-mint.href (/{lang}/api-reference/{en-tag-kebab}/{en-summary-kebab} — English slugs in all languages for language-switcher parity) and x-mint.metadata.title/sidebarTitle (the translated summary; without them the sidebar shows the English slug). Set all of these when adding an operation, and keep the tags arrays index-aligned across languages.
After structural edits (adding, removing, retitling, or reordering operations, or changing availability): update memberships.json and the app-type overview pages, then run wire, check-coverage, lint_specs, and parity_check per tools/api-pipeline/README.md. Description-only edits need the lints but not wire.
App-Type Scoping
The codebase shares controllers and Pydantic models across app modes; the merged spec documents each shared endpoint once, mode-aware. Filter every claim through the app types the operation actually serves (its availability line and memberships.json):
- Shared models: include only fields that have an effect in at least one supported mode; mark mode-specific fields in a mode note.
- Shared error handlers: include only errors triggerable in a supported mode.
- Internal-only fields (e.g.,
retriever_from): omit from the spec.
To judge relevance, check the controller's AppMode guard; when in doubt, trace through AppGenerateService.generate(). For example, workflow_id matters in chatflow mode, not chat.
Verifying Against Code
Every detail in the spec MUST be verifiable against the codebase.
What must match exactly:
- Schema constraints (
default, minimum/maximum, enum): the Pydantic Field() arguments, verbatim.
- Required/optional:
Field(default=...) is optional; no default is required; FetchUserArg(required=True) is required.
- Response status codes: the code's
return ..., <status>.
- Response body fields: what the code actually returns after converters.
- Error codes and messages: only errors the endpoint raises, with names and
description strings traced to the exception.
How to verify:
- Identify the correct controller. These specs are the Service API (
servers base ends in /v1; controllers/service_api/). The same route name often also exists on the web or console blueprint with a different path, auth model, and required params (e.g., a required user); match the blueprint whose base URL matches servers, not the first controller you find.
- Read the controller method.
- For each parameter, find the Pydantic model or
request.args.get() and note the Field() arguments.
- Trace string fields beyond the controller. A controller
str may be cast to StrEnum/Literal or validated against a fixed list downstream; if so, the spec needs enum.
- For errors, trace
except to raise to the exception class and its error_code/code in error.py, and through the global handlers in api/libs/external_api.py.
- For responses, read the
return statement AND any response converter (they flatten, restructure, or inject fields).
- For service calls, read the service method to see what it actually returns or raises.
Flagging Suspected Bugs
The code is the source of truth, but the code itself can have bugs. When something looks irregular (off-by-one in le/ge, a body on a 204, error handling that differs from sibling endpoints, a required mismatch):
- Flag it explicitly. Never silently document the suspected bug.
- Show the evidence. Quote the exact line and explain why it looks wrong.
- Ask the user to decide: document as-is, or treat as an upstream bug.
- Never auto-correct. Do not write the "correct" value when the code says otherwise.
Beyond fidelity, act as a professional API writer: challenge questionable decisions with reasoning, suggest developer-experience improvements (kept clearly separate from required fixes), and push back on conflicting instructions with evidence.
S7 Verifiers
Independent code audit (required for new or substantially-changed endpoints)
Spec errors hide in plausible-looking JSON. Dispatch a subagent to audit the spec against the code, and instruct it not to trust your draft. The brief MUST:
- Pin the verification refs: the exact dify tag/branch. Add the graphon version pinned in
dify/api/pyproject.toml only when the endpoint's behavior runs through the graph engine (workflow execution and its streaming events); it does not apply to the Knowledge spec or to controller, parameter, or error checks, which live in dify.
- Require the agent to load this skill and its
references/ (spec-conventions, audit-checklist, codebase-paths).
- Identify the correct controller (Service API at
/v1, controllers/service_api/), not a same-named web/console route with different auth or params; see Verifying Against Code.
- Per endpoint: check path/method, every parameter (required/optional/type), response status and body fields, and each error code traced
exception to handler, all against code. Return a per-endpoint verdict with file:symbol evidence, plus a separate list of what code alone cannot confirm.
- Trace opaque request fields (ids, tokens, file references) to where they are resolved and validated, not just the controller. Capture ownership and cross-request rules, such as an
upload_file_id whose owning user must match the submit's.
- If the endpoint also appears in the in-product API templates (
web/app/components/develop/template/template_*.mdx), diff the spec against them. Treat divergence as a signal to re-check the code, not as authority: the templates have been found stale (wrong limits, renamed error codes) — the code decides, and template drift is worth flagging upstream.
Treat the audit as authoritative over your draft; reconcile every discrepancy before claiming done.
Example and schema consistency
A quick mechanical pass, independent of the audit:
- Every key in a request or response example appears in the corresponding schema, and every documented field appears in at least one example.
- Every documented enum value and
oneOf branch is exercised by at least one example.
