The thing with APIs is that I have a feeling that companies only offer them as a way to externalize costs. They offer an API, someone else builds something wit

The thing with APIs is that I have a feeling that companies only offer them as a way to externalize costs. They offer an API, someone else builds something with it on their platform for them. Then of course they can tweak the API to make sure only things they want on their platform are being built. Or what also happens is that they wait until a community grows around those many tools other enthusiastic people build on top of the API, and there is enough of an invested userbase that they can remove the less profitable parts bit by bit. This is why I personally think APIs are often moats in disguise.