Some of the most widely implemented API contracts in the world were never
ratified by anybody. S3, the OpenAI API, CKAN's Action API, Ethereum JSON-RPC — each became
a standard by being copied, not by being agreed.
These are not base APIs, which describe how an API should be
designed. They are descriptions of what the industry already implements,
profiled from the interface as it actually behaves, graded into conformance tiers, and
published with a registry of who implements them and how strongly each claim is evidenced.
We describe; we do not design. A claim is recorded as a claim until something verifies it.
Blockchain - Nobody ratified the Ethereum JSON-RPC interface as a standard for every other chain. It became one because every EVM chain and every node provider implemented it, and a client written for one now points at hundreds by changing a URL. This profile measures what that actually gets you — by calling the methods.
Models - Two API standards that nobody standardized. OpenAI published an API and the industry turned it into a wire format; Anthropic's Messages API became the second dialect a growing share of model hosts speak. Both are profiled here as adopters actually implement them, graded into tiers by measured adoption, with a registry of who implements what and how strongly each claim is evidenced.
Open Data - Nobody ratified CKAN's Action API as the open-data standard. It became one because government after government installed the same software, and a client written against one national portal now works against hundreds of city, state and research catalogues by changing a hostname. This is the only profile in the programme authored rather than derived — CKAN publishes no machine-readable specification of its own API.
Storage - Nobody ratified S3 as the object-storage standard. It became one because vendor after vendor implemented Amazon's interface on their own hardware, and an application written against one now runs against dozens by changing an endpoint. This is also the profile with the weakest evidence behind its adoption numbers, and it says so rather than presenting a confident table.
Adoption counts are a floor, not a census. They
count organizations who state compatibility in sources we have harvested, and nowhere else.
Every adopter entry carries the URL it was read from and the date it was read.
