Name the business event before you name the endpoint
Teams that open with a URL catalogue often wire the wrong hop first. Start from the event operations already recognise.
Field notes
Short pieces from consulting work on connecting internal systems—events, contracts, retries, and the habits that keep hops honest.
A shared database table is not an integration
If both systems write the same row, you have a custody fight, not a connector. Contracts make ownership visible.
Sandbox payloads beat another architecture slide
One recorded order payload settles more arguments than a diagram with six coloured boxes.
Write down who owns the retry before go-live
Night-time failures get expensive when both sides assume the other will re-send. Put the owner on the handover note.