generated: '2026-09-09'
method: searched
source: https://www.ftc.gov/developer
specification: API Commons Lifecycle
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: Federal Trade Commission
providerId: federal-trade-commission
description: >-
  Versioning, change-communication and operational-transparency posture of the FTC public
  API. Searched 2026-09-09. The headline finding is an absence: an API that has been in
  production since 2018 is still labelled v0 and carries no changelog, no deprecation
  policy, no SLA and no status page.
versioning:
  scheme: url-path
  current_version: v0
  base: https://api.ftc.gov/v0
  first_released: '2018-06'
  first_release_evidence: >-
    https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/competition-matters/2018/06/ftc-launches-first-web-api-make-early-terminations-more-accessible
  stability_statement: >-
    "The current API version is v0, indicating that the API is under active development."
    — https://www.ftc.gov/developer
  breaking_change_policy: none published
  note: >-
    A v0 label eight years into production is itself the compatibility signal: the agency
    has reserved the right to change the contract and has never promised otherwise.
deprecation:
  policy_published: false
  sunset_header: false
  deprecation_header: false
  rfc8594: false
  evidence: >-
    No Sunset or Deprecation response header observed on api.ftc.gov (probed 2026-09-09);
    no deprecation or retirement policy found on www.ftc.gov/developer or in
    https://github.com/FederalTradeCommission/ftc-api-docs.
  deprecated_operations: []
  historical_note: >-
    The HSR Early Termination programme itself was suspended in February 2021; the API
    endpoint continues to serve the historical record. No machine-readable deprecation
    signal marks that change.
change_communication:
  changelog_published: false
  release_notes: false
  evidence: >-
    No dated changelog exists on the developer portal or in the ftc-api-docs repository
    (last commit 2020-04-29). The only dated statement found is the endpoint reference
    footer "Documentation updated April 13, 2023 to reflect Drupal 9 JSON structure
    changes" — a prose note, not a changelog. No ChangeLog pointer is emitted.
  announcement_channel: >-
    General agency press feed only — https://www.ftc.gov/feeds/press-release.xml — which
    is not developer-scoped.
status_page:
  published: false
  url: null
  evidence: >-
    No status.ftc.gov, no status page linked from https://www.ftc.gov/developer, and no
    FTC entry on the api.data.gov operator's status surface. No StatusPage pointer is
    emitted. Uptime for the gateway layer is api.data.gov's, and the FTC does not publish
    where to watch it.
sla:
  published: false
  uptime_target: null
  support_response_target: null
support:
  channels:
    - type: email
      value: webmaster@ftc.gov
      scope: developer portal / API questions
      source: https://www.ftc.gov/developer
    - type: email
      value: HSRHelp@ftc.gov
      scope: HSR early termination data
      source: https://www.ftc.gov/data.json
    - type: email
      value: opengov@ftc.gov
      scope: open data / datasets
      source: https://www.ftc.gov/data.json
    - type: repository issues
      value: https://github.com/FederalTradeCommission/ftc-api-docs/issues
      scope: documentation
data_freshness:
  dnc_complaints: updated each weekday by approximately noon Eastern; weekends on Monday
  hsr_early_termination: historical record; programme suspended February 2021
gaps_for_provider:
  - Publish a dated changelog for api.ftc.gov and link it from /developer.
  - Graduate v0 to v1 with a stated compatibility policy, or say plainly that v0 is stable.
  - Publish a status page, or name the api.data.gov status surface consumers should watch.
  - Emit Sunset/Deprecation headers (RFC 8594) on any endpoint scheduled for retirement.