Training course · Agentic Coding · API Development

Agentic Coding for API Developers

Use autonomous coding agents effectively: specs instead of prompts, task decomposition, test-driven loops, multi-agent setups and governance.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Agentic Coding for API Developers” is designed for roles such as Backend developers building REST, GraphQL or gRPC interfaces, API architects and owners of API governance and Integration developers connecting partners and platforms and shows step by step how to use Agentic Coding productively, safely and transparently in API Development – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

Agentic coding means working with AI agents that carry out development tasks largely on their own: they read code, plan changes, run commands and tests, and correct themselves based on the results. Tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, the GitHub Copilot coding agent and Cursor’s agent mode have made this way of working practical for everyday use. This vendor-neutral course teaches the underlying methodology so that you achieve reliable results whatever the tool, and redefine the developer’s role within your engineering team.

The core shift is from ad hoc prompts to robust specifications. You will learn to decompose and describe tasks so that agents solve them reliably, to set up test-driven loops in which tests act as objective acceptance criteria, and to run several agents in parallel or with a division of labour. We also cover review strategies for agent-generated code and team governance: permissions, security boundaries, accountability, cost control and the gradual introduction of agentic workflows into your existing development processes.

APIs form the backbone of modern software landscapes and are increasingly the interface through which AI agents interact with systems. AI coding assistants speed up the entire API lifecycle, from drafting an OpenAPI or AsyncAPI specification to generating server stubs, clients and contract tests, through to documentation and versioning. At the same time, demands for consistency, security and backward compatibility keep rising, because APIs are consumed by many teams, partners and automated agents. In this course you learn to practise API-first development with AI support, enforce design guidelines automatically, catch breaking changes early and expose existing interfaces to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol or tool definitions.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Backend developers building REST, GraphQL or gRPC interfaces
  • API architects and owners of API governance
  • Integration developers connecting partners and platforms
  • Platform engineering teams running API gateways and developer portals
  • Developers making company data available to AI agents

Typical challenges we address

  • Inconsistent API design across teams with differing conventions for errors, pagination and versioning
  • Specification, implementation and documentation drift apart
  • Breaking changes are only discovered by consumers
  • Securing authentication, authorisation and rate limiting as users and agent traffic grow

What you will be able to do

  • You understand how coding agents work and choose the right tool and level of autonomy.
  • You write specifications and project context that agents can work with reliably.
  • You break initiatives into verifiable sub-tasks and steer agents through test-driven loops.
  • You use multi-agent setups and parallel work in a controlled way.
  • Practise API-first development with AI support, from specification to clients, tests and documentation.
  • Automate design governance, contract testing and breaking-change detection in your pipeline.
  • Make existing APIs available to AI agents securely and in a controlled way, for example via the Model Context Protocol.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Foundations of agentic development
  • How coding agents work: tool calls, context windows and feedback loops
  • Comparing tools: terminal agents, IDE agents and cloud agents
  • Recognising suitable tasks and choosing levels of autonomy deliberately
  • The new role in the team: from implementation to steering and acceptance
Module 2 Specifications instead of prompts
  • Describing tasks with goal, context, constraints and acceptance criteria
  • Keeping project context in files such as CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or rules
  • Plan-first approach: let the agent draft a solution and review it before implementation
  • Versioning specifications and maintaining them as part of the repository
Module 3 Task decomposition and test-driven agent loops
  • Breaking large initiatives into independent, verifiable sub-tasks
  • Having tests written first and using them as an objective stopping criterion
  • Using linters, type checks and builds as automatic feedback
  • Recognising stuck loops and restarting with a new strategy
Module 4 Multi-agent setups and parallel work
  • Defining specialised subagents for research, implementation, testing and review
  • Organising parallel work with branches, worktrees and isolated environments
  • Orchestration: merging results and resolving conflicts
  • Sharing tools and data sources through MCP

Day 2

Module 5 Review, security and team governance
  • Review strategies for large, agent-generated changes
  • Defining permissions, sandboxing and protection against prompt injection
  • Embedding agents in CI pipelines and pull request processes
  • Planning team guidelines, accountability, costs and a phased rollout
Module 6 Practice lab: API Development
  • Generating OpenAPI specs
  • Generating servers and clients
  • Building contract tests
  • Detecting breaking changes
  • Reviewing API security
  • Opening APIs to AI agents
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • APIs frequently carry personal and confidential data: you learn to create specifications and sample data without real customer records, keep API keys and tokens out of the AI context and apply data protection by design under the GDPR as well as NIS2 requirements.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Generating OpenAPI specs

Draft complete OpenAPI specifications with schemas, examples, error objects and security schemes from requirements, domain models or existing code, and check them against your style guide rules.

Generating servers and clients

Derive controller scaffolding, validation logic and type-safe client SDKs for several languages from a specification, keeping generated parts cleanly separated from hand-written business logic. Regenerating after spec changes is simple.

Building contract tests

Define consumer-driven contracts, generate test cases for edge values, error paths and authentication, and run them automatically in CI against both the specification and the live implementation.

Detecting breaking changes

Compare two versions of a specification, identify incompatible changes, write migration notes for consumers and plan deprecation strategies using versioning and sunset headers. The check runs on every pull request.

Reviewing API security

Analyse endpoints for typical weaknesses from the OWASP API Security Top 10, such as broken object-level authorisation, mass assignment or missing rate limits, and propose fixes.

Opening APIs to AI agents

Expose existing interfaces as MCP servers or tool definitions, phrase descriptions and parameters so agents use them correctly and scope permissions so agents can only perform approved actions.

Possible hands-on projects

API linter with house rules

A command-line tool that checks OpenAPI files against your design guidelines and posts clear improvement suggestions directly on the pull request.

Mock server from spec

A small service that generates realistic sample responses from a specification so frontend teams can work in parallel with backend development.

MCP server for an internal API

An MCP server that exposes selected endpoints of an internal REST API as tools for AI assistants, with authentication and logging.

Prerequisites

You have several years of development experience, are confident with Git, testing and CI, and ideally have already used AI coding tools. You build backend applications in a mainstream language such as Java, C#, TypeScript, Python or Go and understand HTTP, JSON and REST fundamentals.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with Git, a terminal and your development environment, plus access to at least one coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex, Copilot or Cursor.

Data protection & compliance

APIs frequently carry personal and confidential data: you learn to create specifications and sample data without real customer records, keep API keys and tokens out of the AI context and apply data protection by design under the GDPR as well as NIS2 requirements.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Thu, 26 November 2026 – Fri, 27 November 2026 Online Request
  • Mon, 7 December 2026 – Tue, 8 December 2026 Stuttgart Request
  • Mon, 18 January 2027 – Tue, 19 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 25 January 2027 – Tue, 26 January 2027 Berlin Request
  • Mon, 1 February 2027 – Tue, 2 February 2027 Online Request
  • Wed, 17 February 2027 – Thu, 18 February 2027 Munich Request

Frequently asked questions

How does agentic coding differ from vibe coding?

Vibe coding relies on fast, intuitive iteration in natural language and is particularly suited to prototypes. Agentic coding is an engineering discipline for professional codebases: precise specifications, tests as acceptance criteria, clear permissions and structured reviews ensure that agents deliver reliable, maintainable results even in complex, long-lived projects.

Is the course tied to a specific tool?

No. The course teaches methods that work with Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, the GitHub Copilot coding agent, Cursor and comparable tools. The exercises highlight differences and common ground, for example in context files, permissions and subagents. You can work with whichever tool your organisation already uses or plans to adopt.

How do we stay in control of quality and security with autonomous agents?

Control comes from several layers: tightly scoped permissions and sandboxing, tests and static analysis as automatic checks, mandatory human review before merging, and clear team rules on accountability. During the course you develop a governance concept that fits your processes, security requirements and regulatory obligations.

Is spec-first still worth it when AI writes code so quickly?

More than ever. A precise specification is the best context you can give an AI assistant: it pins down data structures, error cases and security requirements, serves as a contract for consumers and underpins your tests. Without one, AI quickly produces inconsistent endpoints. In the course you use the spec as the single source for generation and validation.

What is the difference between a REST API and an MCP server?

A REST API is aimed at developers and applications, whereas an MCP server exposes capabilities in a standardised format for AI assistants and agents, including descriptions the model can interpret. An MCP server is often a thin layer on top of existing APIs. You learn when that step pays off and how to implement it securely.

How much does “Agentic Coding for API Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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