ALPS and the Topographic Mindset

It's a shift in mindset ...

Most APIs today are designed like turn-by-turn GPS directions. They tell you exactly what to do next, step by step, assuming a single, linear path. Helpful? Sometimes. But brittle, rigid, and prone to failure when the terrain changes or new routes appear.

NOTE: This post is based on a response from ChatGPT.

ALPS (Application-Level Profile Semantics) is more like a topographic map. It doesn't just tell you what to do. It shows you the lay of the land. Peaks and valleys. Trails and obstacles. Potential actions, not prescribed steps. With ALPS, you're not boxed into one way forward. You're offered a landscape of affordances—possibilities based on where you are, what you can do, and what the environment allows.

A flat OpenAPI doc might say:

"POST here, then GET there." 

ALPS says:

"From here, you could create, explore, update, or transition. Here's what those actions mean, and what they'll afford you."

It's a shift in mindset: from navigating roads to reading terrain. ALPS embraces ambiguity, change, and emergence. Like a skilled hiker with a topo map, you gain situational awareness and adaptive freedom. You’re not just following instructions—you’re understanding the world you’re moving through.

And that makes all the difference when the trail forks, the weather changes, or you're building systems meant to last.