posthog/managing-endpoint-versions

Managing endpoint versions

This skill is the practical guide to endpoint versioning. It covers the today-workflow, which has some sharp edges worth being explicit about.

When to use this skill

• "How do I roll back to v3?"
• "I want to test changes before they go live"
• "How do I update the description / data_freshness_seconds on a specific version?"
• "Can I disable v4 without affecting v5?"
• The user is uncertain whether a query change will cut a new version

Versioning model — what to know

| Behaviour | Reality | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Query change | Auto-cuts a new version. Saving any edit to the query creates a new version and bumps the current version number | | Settings change (description, data_freshness_seconds, materialisation) | Does not cut a new version. Updates the targeted version in place | | The "current" version | Always the highest version number — it's not a pointer you can move backwards | | Calling without ?version=N | Runs the latest version. So unpinned callers always hit the newest | | Disabling the whole endpoint | endpoint-update with is_active: false (no version) takes every version offline at once | | Disabling a single version | endpoint-update with version + is_active: false retires one version without affecting the others |

The model is forward-only. There is no "make v3 the default again" operation today. Practically this means "rollback" requires either creating a new top version that re-uses the old query, or pinning callers to ?version=N.

Available tools

| Tool | Purpose | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | endpoint-versions | List all versions for an endpoint, latest first | | endpoint-get | Full config; supports ?version=N to fetch a specific version | | endpoint-update | The workhorse — supports version body param to target a specific version | | endpoint-run | Execute a version directly via ?version=N (without affecting which version other callers hit) |

Workflows

Previewing a draft before publishing

There is no "draft" concept in the model. Editing the query commits it as a new version immediately. To preview safely:

1. Test the new query first with the execute-sql tool (or the SQL editor) — not on the live endpoint
2. When ready, update the endpoint — this creates the new version automatically
3. Use endpoint-run with ?version=N to confirm the new version returns what you expect
4. Old callers still hit the latest version (which is now your new version) — there is no "soft launch"

If the user needs a true staging endpoint, the only workaround today is a sibling endpoint with a _v2 or _staging suffix. Document this honestly — there is no in-product staging path.

Rolling back to an older version

The forward-only model means "rollback" requires forking:

1. endpoint-versions to find the version with the good query (say v3)
2. endpoint-get with ?version=3 to retrieve that version's query JSON
3. endpoint-update with the v3 query as the new query — this creates a new version (e.g. v6) with the same query as v3
4. All callers without ?version=N now hit v6 (== v3's query)

The old version (v5, the broken one) still exists and is still callable via ?version=5 until explicitly deactivated.

Faster mitigation if you can change every caller: have them pin to ?version=3 until a real fix is ready. Lower-impact than cutting a new version.

Updating settings on a specific version

endpoint-update accepts a version field in the body. When set, settings updates apply to that version only — they do not cut a new version. Useful when:

• Bumping data_freshness_seconds on an old version that some callers still pin to
• Adjusting description on a historical version for clarity
• Changing materialisation state per version (the materialisation is per-version anyway)

Important: passing query together with version is rejected — query changes always cut a new top version, never modify history. The version arg only affects settings.

Deactivating a single version

To take v3 out of service while keeping v4 and v5 callable:

endpoint-update {name: "...", version: 3, is_active: false}

This sets is_active: false on v3 only. Callers pinned to ?version=3 start getting an error; other callers are unaffected.

To re-enable: same call with is_active: true.

The whole-endpoint is_active field (without version) is a separate switch — it disables every version at once. Use the version-scoped form for surgical takedowns.

Pruning unused versions

Old versions accumulate over time. To find which are dead, call endpoint-versions and read each version's last_executed_at: a version that's null or long stale hasn't been called recently. Materialised dead versions are the costly ones — disable their materialisation with endpoint-update + version + is_materialized: false, and deactivate with is_active: false to signal they're retired.

Confirm with the user before retiring a version: last_executed_at counts only personal-API-key calls and is recorded only for runs since that tracking was added (so a used version can still read null), and a caller may be pinned to ?version=N. The full audit flow lives in auditing-endpoints.

Example interaction

User: "I shipped a broken query last night, v5. How do I roll back?"

Agent:
- endpoint-versions <name> → v5 (latest), v4, v3, v2, v1
- endpoint-get <name> ?version=4 → query JSON for v4
- "Rolling back means creating v6 with v4's query. v5 stays as a
   historical version but nobody hits it unless they explicitly
   pass ?version=5. Sound right?"
- User confirms
- endpoint-update <name> {query: <v4 query>} → creates v6
- endpoint-run <name> ?version=6 to confirm shape
- "Done. v6 is live with v4's query. Want me to also deactivate v5
   so it's clear it's defunct?"
- User: "Yes"
- endpoint-update <name> {version: 5, is_active: false}

Important notes

• There is no pointer flip. "Rolling back" creates a new version. The version number is always going up. If the user is uncomfortable with the resulting history noise, that's a fair concern — surface it honestly.
• A query change always creates a new version. Updating settings on the side does not. If the user wants to fix a typo in v5's description without bumping to v6, use the version param.
• Disabling a single version only blocks that version. It doesn't change which version runs by default — that's always the highest version number.
• Materialisation is per-version. Each version has its own materialised view named {endpoint_name}_v{version}. Disabling materialisation on one version doesn't affect others.
• Pinning is the safety net — push callers to use it. Callers that pin to ?version=N are insulated from query edits; unpinned callers always hit the latest and can be surprised by a new version. Encourage consumers to pin, validate a new version, then bump the pin deliberately.
• The CLI manages versions too. posthog-cli exp endpoints {pull,push,diff} lets the user keep endpoint definitions as YAML in version control and review changes before pushing — a cleaner workflow than editing live when query changes need review.
• Activating an older version is not yet a product feature. If the user repeatedly wants this — flip a pointer rather than fork — surface it as a feature gap (and nudge the team via agent-feedback). Don't pretend endpoint-update does it.