Suppose we need to pull data from an external server. As part of a business proposal, how would you write a REST API function for data ingestion? What would the REST API configuration look like? From a developer's perspective, what prerequisites would you ask the team to provide before starting?

I would design a POST endpoint like /ingest/data that accepts a JSON payload or multipart form containing the data and metadata. The request would include authentication (OAuth2 or API key), a content‑type header, and optional query parameters for batch size or priority. The response would return a 202 Accepted with a job ID for asynchronous processing, or 200 OK with a summary if processed synchronously. Configuration would be defined in an OpenAPI spec: paths, schemas, security schemes, and error codes. I would also set up rate limiting, logging, and monitoring. Before starting, I’d ask the team for: 1) Data format specifications and sample payloads. 2) Authentication mechanism and credentials. 3) Network access rules (IP whitelisting, VPN). 4) Target storage details (database, object store). 5) SLA expectations and error handling policies. 6) Test data and a staging environment. With these prerequisites, I can build a robust, documented, and secure ingestion API.