travisjneuman/.claude/api-design

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REST and GraphQL API design best practices including OpenAPI specs. Use when designing APIs, documenting endpoints, or reviewing API architecture.

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npx vskill@latest install travisjneuman/.claude/api-design

SKILL.md

API Design Guide

Best practices for designing developer-friendly, maintainable APIs.

REST API Principles

Resource Naming

Use nouns, not verbs:

✓ GET /users
✓ GET /users/123
✓ GET /users/123/orders
✗ GET /getUsers
✗ GET /fetchUserById
✗ POST /createNewOrder

Use plural nouns:

✓ /users
✓ /orders
✓ /products
✗ /user
✗ /order

Hierarchical relationships:

/users/{userId}/orders # User's orders
/users/{userId}/orders/{orderId} # Specific order

HTTP Methods
MethodPurposeIdempotentRequest Body
GETRetrieve resource(s)YesNo
POSTCreate resourceNoYes
PUTReplace resource entirelyYesYes
PATCHUpdate resource partiallyNoYes
DELETERemove resourceYesNo

Status Codes

Success (2xx):

  • 200 OK - Request succeeded
  • 201 Created - Resource created (return Location header)
  • 204 No Content - Success with no response body

Client Error (4xx):

  • 400 Bad Request - Malformed request
  • 401 Unauthorized - Authentication required
  • 403 Forbidden - No permission
  • 404 Not Found - Resource doesn't exist
  • 409 Conflict - State conflict
  • 422 Unprocessable Entity - Validation failed
  • 429 Too Many Requests - Rate limited

Server Error (5xx):

  • 500 Internal Server Error - Unexpected error
  • 503 Service Unavailable - Temporary outage

Response Format

Successful response:

json
{
"data": {
"id": "123",
"name": "John Doe",
"email": "john@example.com"
}
}

Collection response:

json
{
"data": [
{ "id": "1", "name": "Item 1" },
{ "id": "2", "name": "Item 2" }
],
"meta": {
"page": 1,
"perPage": 20,
"total": 100,
"totalPages": 5
},
"links": {
"self": "/items?page=1",
"next": "/items?page=2",
"prev": null
}
}

Error response:

json
{
"error": {
"code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
"message": "Validation failed",
"details": [
{
"field": "email",
"code": "INVALID_FORMAT",
"message": "Must be a valid email address"
}
]
}
}

Pagination

Offset-based (simple, but slow on large datasets):

GET /users?page=2&perPage=20
GET /users?offset=40&limit=20

Cursor-based (efficient, recommended):

GET /users?cursor=eyJpZCI6MTIzfQ&limit=20

Response includes next cursor:

json
{
"data": [...],
"meta": {
"nextCursor": "eyJpZCI6MTQzfQ",
"hasMore": true
}
}

Filtering, Sorting, Fields

Filtering:

GET /users?status=active
GET /users?created_after=2024-01-01
GET /users?role=admin,moderator

Sorting:

GET /users?sort=name
GET /users?sort=-created_at # Descending
GET /users?sort=status,-created_at # Multiple fields

Field selection:

GET /users?fields=id,name,email
GET /users?include=orders,profile

Versioning

URL path (recommended):

/api/v1/users
/api/v2/users

Header:

Accept: application/vnd.api+json;version=2

OpenAPI Specification

yaml
openapi: 3.0.3
info:
title: My API
version: 1.0.0
description: API for managing users
servers:
- url: https://api.example.com/v1
paths:
/users:
get:
summary: List users
tags: [Users]
parameters:
- name: page
in: query
schema:
type: integer
default: 1
responses:
"200":
description: List of users
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
properties:
data:
type: array
items:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/User"
components:
schemas:
User:
type: object
required: [id, email]
properties:
id:
type: string
email:
type: string
format: email
name:
type: string

Authentication

API Keys (simple, for server-to-server):

Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_API_KEY

Bearer Tokens (JWT, OAuth):

Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...

Include in OpenAPI:

yaml
components:
securitySchemes:
bearerAuth:
type: http
scheme: bearer
bearerFormat: JWT
security:
- bearerAuth: []

Rate Limiting

Include headers in responses:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 1000
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 999
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1640995200

Return 429 Too Many Requests when exceeded.


Security Checklist

  • [ ] HTTPS only
  • [ ] Authentication on protected routes
  • [ ] Input validation
  • [ ] Output encoding
  • [ ] Rate limiting
  • [ ] CORS configuration
  • [ ] No sensitive data in URLs
  • [ ] Audit logging

gRPC and Protocol Buffers

Proto Definition
protobuf
syntax = "proto3";
package user.v1;
service UserService {
rpc GetUser(GetUserRequest) returns (User);
rpc ListUsers(ListUsersRequest) returns (ListUsersResponse);
rpc CreateUser(CreateUserRequest) returns (User);
rpc StreamUpdates(StreamRequest) returns (stream UserUpdate);
}
message User {
string id = 1;
string name = 2;
string email = 3;
google.protobuf.Timestamp created_at = 4;
}
message GetUserRequest {
string id = 1;
}
message ListUsersRequest {
int32 page_size = 1;
string page_token = 2;
}
message ListUsersResponse {
repeated User users = 1;
string next_page_token = 2;
}
When to Use gRPC vs REST
FactorgRPCREST
PerformanceBinary, fastJSON, human-readable
StreamingBidirectionalSSE/WebSocket workaround
Type safetyProto generates typesOpenAPI + codegen
BrowserNeeds gRPC-Web proxyNative
ToolingProtoc, BufSwagger, Postman
Best forService-to-service, streamingPublic APIs, web clients

tRPC for TypeScript

typescript
// server/router.ts
import { router, publicProcedure, protectedProcedure } from './trpc';
import { z } from 'zod';
export const appRouter = router({
user: router({
get: publicProcedure
.input(z.object({ id: z.string() }))
.query(async ({ input }) => {
return db.user.findUnique({ where: { id: input.id } });
}),
create: protectedProcedure
.input(z.object({
name: z.string().min(1),
email: z.string().email(),
}))
.mutation(async ({ input, ctx }) => {
return db.user.create({ data: { ...input, createdBy: ctx.userId } });
}),
}),
});
export type AppRouter = typeof appRouter;
// client.ts - Full type inference, no codegen
const user = trpc.user.get.useQuery({ id: '123' });
const createUser = trpc.user.create.useMutation();

tRPC is ideal for monorepo full-stack TypeScript apps where client and server share the same codebase.


Webhook Design Patterns

Webhook Payload
json
{
"id": "evt_abc123",
"type": "order.completed",
"created_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
"data": {
"order_id": "ord_456",
"total": 99.99,
"currency": "USD"
}
}
Signature Verification
typescript
// Sign webhooks with HMAC-SHA256
import crypto from 'crypto';
function signWebhook(payload: string, secret: string): string {
return crypto
.createHmac('sha256', secret)
.update(payload)
.digest('hex');
}
// Verify on receiving end
function verifyWebhook(payload: string, signature: string, secret: string): boolean {
const expected = signWebhook(payload, secret);
return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
Buffer.from(signature),
Buffer.from(expected),
);
}
Retry Strategy
Attempt 1: Immediately
Attempt 2: After 1 minute
Attempt 3: After 5 minutes
Attempt 4: After 30 minutes
Attempt 5: After 2 hours
Attempt 6: After 24 hours (final)
Failed webhooks: log, alert, manual retry UI
Idempotency
typescript
// Include idempotency key in webhook
// Receivers should deduplicate based on event ID
async function handleWebhook(event: WebhookEvent) {
// Check if already processed
const existing = await db.processedEvents.findUnique({
where: { eventId: event.id },
});
if (existing) return { status: 'already_processed' };
// Process and record
await db.$transaction([
processEvent(event),
db.processedEvents.create({ data: { eventId: event.id } }),
]);
}

API Versioning Strategies

StrategyExampleProsCons
URL path/api/v1/usersExplicit, easy to routeURL pollution
Query parameter/api/users?version=1Optional parameterEasy to miss
HeaderAccept: application/vnd.api.v1Clean URLsHidden, harder to test
Content negotiationAccept: application/json;v=2Standards-basedComplex to implement

Recommendation: URL path versioning for simplicity. Only bump major versions for breaking changes. Use additive, non-breaking changes within a version.

Security

  • Security scanPassed, 100 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
  • Model reviewPassed

Quality evaluation

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Source

Popularity

Repository stars
69
Repository forks
15
7-day trend score
21

Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Refreshed 25 Mar 2026, 7 months ago.

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