Stable, Controllable API

When changing or adding public API in schema/validation libraries, prioritize a stable, user-controlled surface:

• Avoid “deprecated-from-day-1” APIs. If an equivalent non-deprecated API already exists, prefer removing/migrating rather than adding new deprecated entry points.
• Make behavioral toggles user-configurable via options (e.g., allow selectively disabling specific validation checks) instead of bundling all behaviors unconditionally.
• Preserve backward compatibility in type-level changes: when introducing new generic/type parameters (e.g., adding an options-driven strictness flag), provide non-breaking defaults.
• Keep user-facing helper typing tied to the schema contract (e.g., exemplify() should constrain the example to the schema’s output type so changes break at compile time).
• Ensure format/shorthand APIs are “feature-complete” for the migration story (missing refinement methods becomes a blocker when deprecated methods are removed).
• Export public types that users need to compose APIs (e.g., discriminated-union option types), matching how other package types are exposed.

Example (options-based control idea):

// Don’t hard-code all hostname checks; allow opt-out per consumer need.
const schema = z.string().hostname({
  allowIPv4: true,
  allowIPv6: false,
  allowPunycode: true,
});