5. Research & Information Gathering

Tier: All Tiers | Part: Workflow & Process

Research Stack

Tool	Purpose
Postman	Test all endpoints, analyze responses
VS Code	Read OpenAPI YAML/JSON specs
Swagger UI	Visualize the API spec
Notes	Capture research notes
Engineer interviews	Fill gaps the spec doesn't cover

Endpoint Research Template

## Endpoint Research — [Endpoint Name]

**Method:** GET / POST / PUT / DELETE
**Path:** /resource/{id}

### Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description | Unclear? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | yes | Resource ID | No |
| filter | string | no | ??? | YES — ask engineer |

### Questions for Engineer
1. What does the filter parameter accept?
2. What does a 422 error mean for this endpoint?
3. Is there a rate limit?

Gap Analysis Template

## Gap Analysis — [Project Name]

| Gap | Type | Priority | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| POST /messages — priority param undocumented | Missing param | High | Ask engineer |
| GET /threads — response schema incomplete | Missing schema | High | Test in Postman |
| Error codes — 14 codes have no description | Missing content | Medium | Research and write |

NotiFlow Research Findings

After reading the NotiFlow openapi.yaml and testing in Postman:

1. POST /messages has undocumented priority parameter (values: high, normal, low)
2. GET /threads response includes metadata object not in spec
3. Auth docs reference API_KEY header but don't explain how to generate one
4. Error code 4023 appears in responses but is not listed anywhere

Checklist

• OpenAPI spec read in full
• All endpoints tested in Postman
• Research notes created for each endpoint
• Engineer interview completed
• Gap analysis document created