There is a working group in OpenStack dedicated to improving the APIs, aptly named the OpenStack API Working Group. Our mission statement is,
To improve the developer experience of API users by converging the OpenStack API to a consistent and pragmatic RESTful design. The working group creates guidelines that all OpenStack projects should follow for new development, and promotes convergence of new APIs and future versions of existing APIs.
So an additional answer to the question "What is the right way to address the pain points and missing API?" is to participate in the OpenStack API Working Group.
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There is a working group in OpenStack dedicated to improving the APIs, aptly named the OpenStack API Working Group. Our mission statement is,
To improve the developer experience of API users by converging the OpenStack API to a consistent and pragmatic RESTful design. The working group creates guidelines that all OpenStack projects should follow for new development, and promotes convergence of new APIs and future versions of existing APIs.
http://specs.openstack.org/openstack/api-wg/#mission-statement
So an additional answer to the question "What is the right way to address the pain points and missing API?" is to participate in the OpenStack API Working Group.
https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/API_Working_Group#How_to_Join
Hope to see you there!