diff --git a/.github/CODEOWNERS b/.github/CODEOWNERS
index baad7c968..3a74f10be 100644
--- a/.github/CODEOWNERS
+++ b/.github/CODEOWNERS
@@ -1 +1,5 @@
-* @aws-amplify/amplify-data
\ No newline at end of file
+# Data team has general approval permissions
+* @aws-amplify/amplify-data
+
+# API approval - public surface and dependencies.
+**/API.md @aws-amplify/amplify-data-admins