---
published: true
layout: post
title: Theneo's Capabilities Image Speaks to the State of API Docs
date: 2025-03-19 09:00:00+00:00
tags:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Search
- Testing
- GitHub
- SOAP
- Postman
- Branding
- Analytics
- VSCode
- SEO
- Access
image: https://kinlane-productions2.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/theneo-stripe-like-api-docs.png
---
I am always looking for the interesting bits being offered by the partners who fund API Evangelist. You know, the interesting things I can talk about and showcase while remaining faithful to the API Evangelist brand, providing value to my audience, but also showcasing the good stuff my partners do so they keep sponsoring me. ;-) I hope you trust me [as I walk this line showcasing this interesting image from the onboarding process for Theneo](https://bit.ly/41n9vPS). I spend a lot of time studying API documentation and portals and the capabilities reflected in this single image tell a lot about the API space, but also demonstrate how Theneo has done their homework on the state of the API space—let’s break things down.

- **Proprietary AI Assistant** - Ok, I can support the usage of AI at this later, keeping it bundled with the API documentation experience.
- **ChatGPT Search** - I like this too, and reflects my own API documentation experience, where ChatGPT is woven into many areas.
- **API Testing** - I would say this is a little edge for me when it comes to documentation, and would prefer it managed as a separate beast.
- **GitHub** - Of course, an essential building block of my API operations, as well as the documentation experience for any API being produced.
- **GraphQL** - Ok, Theneo doesn’t just document REST HTTP APIs, and you can easily fire up documentation for your GraphQL APIs. Logical.
- **SOAP API** - Makes a lot of sense when selling to the enterprise—25 years later there are still plenty of SOAP APIs that will need documenting.
- **Postman** - Another sensible play for capturing mindshare of people who are producing and consuming APIs, and will need wider experience.
- **Branding** - Yes, our documentation always should be branded, as it is an internal, partner, or public representation of our corporate brand.
- **BitBucket** - Sounds like an existing customer request, but also makes sense, and you’ll likely see a GitLab icon emerge here soon.
- **Automatic Change Log** - Yes! Thank you. This should be the default of not just the documentation but any artifact and building block associated.
- **VSCode** - Definitely a smart move to go where the developers are, allowing API docs to be created, managed, published, and considered in the IDE.
- **Analytics** - Yes please, give me the numbers on every aspect of my API documentation experience letting me know what is being used.
- **SEO Boost** - OK, I can support that. If you have a partner or public API getting help here makes sense and will complement the ChatGTP integration.
- **Notion-Like Editor** - I love the multiple associations to other strong brands in the Theneo approach, emulating what we already know works.
- **Advanced Access Management** - Providing more clarity of the internal, partner, and public edges of enterprise operations using API documentation.

That is a very nice representation of the state of API docs today. I’d hesitate to add much more. I like the building blocks of API operations modular and stackable. Enabling you to stitch various services or tools together into a single platform. However, if I was putting on my product manager hat and providing unsolicited road map advice I’d like to see more API client capabilities, and help make all of this a portable and executable experience. But I will stop there. Like the scope of APIs, the scope of our API services and tooling matters, and I am always questioning my own inclination to pile on. In the end, I feel like this image from Theneno speaks volumes to the API doc realm, and I’ll take another pass to think about how they all work in concert, as well as what the machine-readable artifact layer of this is—I see Postman, SOAP, and GraphQL, but don’t see any [OpenAPI](https://www.openapis.org/), [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/), and of course I’d love to see an [APIs.json](https://apisjson.org/).

P.S. Thanks to [Theneo](https://bit.ly/41n9vPS) for the support!!