## Documentation Plan: Stripe API Changes

This document outlines the plan for organizing and presenting information about changes and updates to the Stripe API. The goal is to provide clear, concise, and actionable information for developers integrating with the Stripe API.

### Overview

The Stripe API is constantly evolving with new features, improvements, and occasional breaking changes. This documentation plan aims to categorize and present these changes in a structured manner, making it easier for developers to understand the impact of these changes on their integrations and to guide them through the necessary updates.

### Structure of Documentation Entries

Each entry in the changelog will follow a consistent structure to ensure clarity and ease of navigation.

*   **Page Title:** A clear and concise title indicating the nature of the change.
*   **Path:** The URL path of the documentation page.
*   **Content:** A brief summary of the change, including:
    *   **What's New:** A description of the new feature or change.
    *   **Impact:** An explanation of how this change affects existing integrations and what actions might be required.
    *   **Breaking Changes:** If applicable, a clear indication of any backward-incompatible changes.
    *   **Upgrade:** Guidance on how to upgrade or adapt integrations to accommodate the change, including specific API versions or parameters to consider.
    *   **Related Changes:** Links to other relevant documentation or API updates.

### Categorization of Changes

Changes will be categorized to help users quickly find information relevant to their areas of interest. Primary categories include:

*   **Product:** The Stripe product or API area affected by the change (e.g., Payments, Billing, Connect, Issuing, Checkout, Terminal, etc.).
*   **Breaking Changes:** Whether the change introduces backward-incompatible modifications.
*   **Category:** A more granular classification of the change (e.g., Feature addition, API modification, deprecation, removal).

### Documentation Strategy

1.  **Comprehensive Changelog:** Maintain a detailed and up-to-date changelog that documents every API change, including the date of release, a clear description of the change, its impact, and any required actions for developers.
2.  **Versioning:** Clearly indicate the API version associated with each change. Provide guidance on how to upgrade API versions to access new features or comply with breaking changes.
3.  **Clear Impact Analysis:** For each change, clearly articulate its impact on existing integrations. This includes identifying potential breaking changes, deprecated features, and recommended actions.
4.  **Actionable Upgrade Paths:** Provide specific instructions and code examples for developers to update their integrations. This may include linking to relevant API documentation or migration guides.
5.  **Searchability and Navigation:** Ensure the changelog is easily searchable and navigable, allowing developers to quickly find information related to specific products, dates, or types of changes.
6.  **Consistency:** Maintain a consistent format and tone across all changelog entries.

### Example of a Documentation Entry (Hypothetical)

**Page Title:** Adds `tax_info` object to Customer API for enhanced tax handling

**Path:** `/changelog/2023-10-16/customer-tax-info`

**Content:**

*   **What's New:** The Customer API now includes a `tax_info` object, which allows for the collection and storage of detailed tax identification information, such as VAT numbers and tax IDs.
*   **Impact:** This change provides a more structured way to manage customer tax data, which is crucial for tax compliance in various regions. Developers can now pass and retrieve tax information more efficiently.
*   **Breaking Changes:** None.
*   **Upgrade:** No immediate action is required for existing integrations. However, for new integrations or when updating customer tax information, use the `tax_info` object.
*   **Related Changes:** Adds support for tax IDs in new countries.

### Future Considerations

*   **Version Control:** Continuously review and update API versioning information to ensure clarity and backward compatibility guidance.
*   **SDK Updates:** Coordinate API changes with corresponding updates to Stripe SDKs to provide seamless integration experiences.
*   **Developer Communication:** Proactively communicate significant API changes and deprecations through developer channels to allow ample time for integration updates.

This documentation plan will serve as a foundation for maintaining a clear and informative changelog, empowering developers to effectively manage their Stripe integrations.