diff --git a/packages/api/.gitignore b/packages/api/.gitignore
index b8fe8bdb..2e0d94a6 100644
--- a/packages/api/.gitignore
+++ b/packages/api/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 coverage/
 dist/
 node_modules/
+legacy-require-handler.d.cts
diff --git a/packages/api/legacy-require-handler.cjs b/packages/api/legacy-require-handler.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..174d0319
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/api/legacy-require-handler.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+// @ts-check
+/* eslint-disable import/no-commonjs */
+
+/**
+ * In `api` v6, this package was a JS library used JavaScript Proxies to dynamically generate SDKs at runtime.
+ * This functionality has been sunset in `api` v7 to focus on its CLI, which builds strongly-typed SDKs.
+ * This file is here to throw errors for users that attempt to use the legacy library.
+ *
+ *
+ * @param {unknown} input
+ */
+module.exports = function legacyHandler(input) {
+  let identifier = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OAI/OpenAPI-Specification/main/examples/v3.0/petstore.json';
+
+  if (typeof input === 'string') {
+    identifier = input;
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(`Oops! You're attempting to use a legacy usage pattern that no longer exists.
+
+You can read more about this in our docs: TKTK
+
+\`api\` can now generate strongly-typed SDKs that work in pretty much every JS runtime!
+
+Try running this command to get started:
+
+npx api@latest install ${identifier}
+`);
+};
diff --git a/packages/api/package.json b/packages/api/package.json
index f97b0093..cd4eb837 100644
--- a/packages/api/package.json
+++ b/packages/api/package.json
@@ -6,17 +6,20 @@
   "bin": {
     "api": "bin/api.js"
   },
+  "main": "legacy-require-handler.cjs",
   "scripts": {
     "attw": "attw --pack --format table-flipped",
     "build": "tsc",
-    "build:versionedfiles": "NODE_OPTIONS=--no-warnings node --loader ts-node/esm bin/buildVersionedFiles.ts",
+    "build:legacy-handler": "tsc legacy-require-handler.cjs --checkJs --declaration --emitDeclarationOnly",
+    "build:versioned-files": "NODE_OPTIONS=--no-warnings node --loader ts-node/esm bin/buildVersionedFiles.ts",
     "debug:bin": "NODE_OPTIONS=--no-warnings node --loader ts-node/esm src/bin.ts",
     "lint:types": "tsc --noEmit",
-    "prebuild": "rm -rf dist/ && npm run build:versionedfiles",
+    "prebuild": "rm -rf dist/ && npm run build:versioned-files",
+    "postbuild": "npm run build:legacy-handler",
     "prepack": "npm run build",
     "test": "vitest run --coverage",
     "test:smoke": "vitest --config=vitest-smoketest.config.ts",
-    "version": "npm run build:versionedfiles && git add schema.json src/packageInfo.ts"
+    "version": "npm run build:versioned-files && git add schema.json src/packageInfo.ts"
   },
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
@@ -34,6 +37,7 @@
   },
   "files": [
     "dist",
+    "legacy-require-handler.**",
     "schema.json"
   ],
   "keywords": [