hi @vNick 
Thank you for the writeup!
We are in the process of formalizing our API schema and would like to use as much OOTB as possible.
We are looking to leverage [api_consumer_access] to represent IDP Client IDs.

[api_consumer_access] has a mandatory reference to [cmdb_ci_api]. 
However, our Client IDs could be used for multiple [cmdb_ci_API]s (i.e. Consumer access is not associated to one API).   Can we remove this mandatory reference without compromising future OOTB designs?  Do you see any impact to ootb SN features if we remove the mandatory requirement?
Note:  our Consumer Access could be associated to many API Components.

Looking forward to your recommendation.

Thank you.