Stable concepts, framework concepts, and changing APIs
Words made simple
A few useful meanings before you read the explanation.
- API
- A way for one piece of software to ask another for data or an action. A claims API might return the current status of a claim.
- Retrieval
- Finding and fetching information that is useful for the current question.
- Schema
- A description of the fields and value types that data should contain. It helps check that an answer has the expected shape.
More words from this lesson
- State
- The data describing where a workflow is now, what it already knows, and what still needs to happen.
- Idempotency
- Making a repeated request have the same intended business effect as one request. It helps avoid duplicate submissions or payments.
- Authorization
- Checking what that identity is allowed to read or do. Being logged in does not grant access to every record.
- Evaluation
- Checking results against examples and clear criteria to find whether the system works well and where it fails.
- SDK
- A set of code tools provided to help an application use a service or framework.
| Layer | Examples | How to learn/maintain |
|---|---|---|
| Stable engineering concepts | Authorization, idempotency, provenance, retrieval, evaluation, budgets, state ownership | Understand the problem, invariants, failures, and trade-offs |
| Framework-specific concepts | LangGraph reducers/interrupts, MAF workflows, SDK handoffs, retriever interfaces | Map them to stable concepts and test actual behavior |
| Rapidly changing APIs | Imports, provider event envelopes, model IDs, supported schemas, cloud branding, pricing, protocol versions | Pin compatible versions and consult linked official docs before implementation |
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Stable concepts, framework concepts, and changing APIs
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Stable concepts, framework concepts, and changing APIs
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Practice this conceptAdapted from 13_AI.MD · “Stable concepts, framework concepts, and changing APIs”. Examples are study fragments; framework behavior can depend on your version.