Identify orphaned APIs in Vets API

[LindseySaari]

Overview

The objective of this ticket is to identify orphaned or low-traffic APIs within the Vets API codebase. This initiative is critical for cleaning up the codebase and for future architectural changes, specifically in separating the domains of Lighthouse and Vets API or even microservices.

Goals

• Utilize APM (Application Performance Management) tools to pinpoint APIs with low traffic that might be orphaned.
• Create a strategy to distinguish between genuinely orphaned APIs and those receiving minimal traffic due to factors like health checks.
• Lay the groundwork for future separation of Lighthouse and Vets API domains to streamline upgrades and domain-specific maintenance.

Tasks

• [ ] Conduct an analysis using APM tools to identify APIs with minimal traffic.
• [ ] Refer to Atlas and CODEOWNERS for sources-of-truth
• [ ] Develop criteria to differentiate between low-traffic and orphaned APIs.
• [ ] Document findings and propose a list of potential orphaned APIs for review.
• [ ] Plan and discuss the architectural implications of removing identified orphaned APIs.
• [ ] Explore implications for the future separation of Platform API and Lighthouse domains.
• [ ] Develop a proposal for modifying the PR review process to include checks for old or unused API routes.

Future Considerations

• Domain Separation: Assess how the identification of orphaned APIs can facilitate the separation of the Lighthouse and Vets API domains. This separation is crucial for independent domain management and for more efficient upgrade processes.
• Revproxy Management: Examine how domain separation can allow for more granular control over the revproxy, potentially enabling us to take down one domain at a time during maintenance or upgrades.

Challenges

• Routing Changes Outside of Platform Scope: Acknowledge that some routing changes, such as new APIs introduced by Lighthouse, might occur outside the platform's scope and may not result in direct code changes for us to review.

Acceptance Criteria

• A comprehensive list of potentially orphaned APIs within the Vets API codebase.
• A documented strategy for future identification and management of orphaned APIs.
• A proposed plan for the PR review process enhancement

[rmtolmach]

Adding the platform-product-team label. And I added it to the epic: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/58702. This could fit nicely in our existing epics.