Updated November 11, 2026

API Dependencies: See What Comes Before, After and Breaks With an API

A dependency map for your APIs. Every link says what it means and how we know it, from a workflow you built, traffic that was seen, a person's word, an AI suggestion that was confirmed, or only a guess from the paths.

Applies to: the Dependencies tab on an API's page is in all editions · The Dependencies tab in Discovery needs the API Discovery add-on · Web app / Desktop app · Reading it runs nothing. Observed links need a capture, HAR file, gateway or trace source.

Overview

Before you change an API, you want to know three things. Which APIs does it need first? Which APIs use its values? What would break if it changed?

The dependency map answers them. It draws a link between two APIs, and it always says two separate things about each link:

What the link means, shown by colour.
How we know, shown by the way the line is drawn.

Because the second part is always visible, you can tell a fact from a guess.

What a link means

Link	Meaning	Colour
Runs after	One API is called after another, in a sequence.	The workflow's own colour, or grey if it was only seen
Uses a value from	A value from one API is passed into the other. The second breaks if the first stops providing it.	Blue
Calls	One API, service or tool calls another.	Purple
Looks like one resource	Only the shape of the URLs says so, for example `POST /orders` and `GET /orders/{id}`.	Light grey, dotted, no arrow

A Looks like one resource link is never counted as a dependency and never counted in the blast radius.

How we know

Drawn as	Label	Meaning
Solid, thick	Set in a workflow	A person wired it in a workflow.
Dashed	Seen happening	It was seen in a recording, a live capture, a gateway route or a trace.
Long dashes	A person said so	Someone stated which APIs an MCP tool calls. The protocol does not say, and nothing has checked it.
Dash and dot	Suggested by AI, confirmed by a person	An AI suggestion from names alone that a person accepted.
Dotted, thin	Guessed from the paths	A pattern in the URLs. It can be wrong.

When a pair of APIs is known in several ways, the line is drawn the strongest way, and the detail card lists the rest. The strength order is: set in a workflow, seen, a person, accepted AI, then guessed.

A guess is never shown as observed. Guesses are hidden by default in the Functional dependencies and Both views. Tick Show the N guesses from the paths to see them.

Step 1 — Open the map

There are two places to start:

One API: open the API's page and choose the Dependencies tab. See The API page.
A whole project: open Discovery, then Dependencies, and choose a project. This needs the API Discovery add-on.

Only APIs with at least one link are drawn. The page says how many of the project's APIs have none.

Step 2 — Choose a lens

The Show switch above the picture has three choices. Switching never moves a card.

Lens	What you see
End-to-end workflows	Only the "runs after" links. Each workflow has its own colour, so you can follow a journey across the picture.
Functional dependencies	Only the links that say what would break what: values passed on and calls.
Both	Everything, with the same colours.

The Journeys in this picture row lists every workflow with its colour. Untick a workflow to remove its lines. Select Follow to fade everything else and number the workflow's steps on the cards and lines. Eight colours are used, and further workflows share a grey.

Step 3 — Read the picture

APIs sit in lanes, one per resource. POST /orders, GET /orders/{id} and DELETE /orders/{id} share the orders lane.
Hover over a link or a card to see a detail card. Click to pin it. The card gives the sentence and every way the link is known.
Full screen: select Full screen on the map for more room, and Exit full screen to return.
Minimap: a minimap appears once the picture holds 40 or more items.
Environment filter: an observed link of unknown environment is not treated as "all environments". Documented and guessed links carry no environment and always show.

What would break if this changes

Select an API to see its blast radius. It follows values and calls up to four steps away. It does not follow run order, so a "runs after" link is reported one step out only.

Adding links from real use

Observed links come from a HAR file, a live capture, a gateway route's upstream, and OpenTelemetry or Datadog traces. These sources belong to API Discovery.

Links between services are tied to endpoints only through operations you accepted into the project. Otherwise the screen says which endpoints are involved is unknown.
Observed links expire 90 days after they were last seen.
Workflow steps that call a WebSocket or JSON-RPC method carry no endpoint, so they make no link.

Which APIs an MCP tool calls

A person can say which APIs an MCP tool calls. The link is labelled A person said so, because the MCP protocol does not tell us.

Suggestions from AI

An AI model can suggest links from names. A suggestion waits until you accept or dismiss it. Accepted links are drawn as Suggested by AI, confirmed by a person. This needs an AI provider that your organisation's AI policy allows.

What this page does not do

It does not wire workflows for you. Workflows that read dependency evidence to order and connect their own steps are not available.
It does not pass data between tests.
It does not give a score.

Troubleshooting

The map is empty. No API in the project has a link yet. Build a workflow, import a HAR file, or add a capture or gateway source.
I expected a link and cannot see it. It may be a guess. Tick Show the N guesses from the paths.
A link is missing for a WebSocket call. Steps that call WebSocket or JSON-RPC methods make no link.

The API Page: Quality Evidence for One API

Product documentation

Reviewing a Specification Change: See What It Touches Before You Approve