That's not how you're supposed to do it.
The API provides everything required to create a fully functional adv. machine addon (EnergyNet/battery/wrench interaction, recipe import, recipe ingredients) without linking to core files. The addon does need to duplicate some of our code ofc, but as soon as you've done that it doesn't matter at all if/how our internal TEs/structures change.
We'll try to create some example code for how to use the API correctly and probably also add some of our utility stuff to the API (networking code, client/server abstraction, audio (after the rewrite), keyboard synchronization, gui handling etc.) once it's stable enough and time allows to do so.
Yeah thats the problem - that little 'utility' list is all the stuff you can't just guess at. I was thinking about building a "block addition kit" so that all that pain could be centralized but to be honest it needs to be part of the API so I don't think I'm going to do that. In the meantime poor Zipp has to decompile IC2 . I've decided against writing another mod (and removed Iron Chest's dependency on IC2) because of this lack of transparency and extreme difficulty for maintainance.