You can bulk delete a bunch of functions and won't break anything. Your patch may require changes to 30 files but the change is minor. "Small enough pieces" is ambiguous I admit. I think a better way to put it to work is make your patch enough to get your code reviewed. If there are drastic changes, just let people know what you are planning to change (really, write out your plan). You may have to write wrappers or keeping the original function intact but write a my_api_function_2 for the newer version so people can start adopting it.