API Organization Pattern

This skill defines the standardized API organization pattern used throughout this codebase. All external API integrations follow the same 5-file structure for consistency, type safety, and maintainability.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Creating new API endpoints or integrations
• Adding new API categories or domains
• Implementing role-based API access (admin vs regular users)
• Modifying existing API structure
• Setting up authentication for API calls
• Creating type-safe API wrappers

Core Principles

1. Single Source of Truth - All API URLs defined once in endpoints.ts
2. Type Safety - Full TypeScript coverage from params to responses
3. Role-Based Access - Separate clients for regular vs admin endpoints
4. Centralized Auth - Authentication handled automatically by clients
5. DRY Code - Reusable client functions, no duplicate endpoint definitions

The 5-File System

All API code lives in src/lib/api/ with exactly these files:

src/lib/api/
├── endpoint-types.ts       # TypeScript types for all endpoints
├── endpoints.ts            # URL definitions organized by domain
├── api-client.ts           # Generic authenticated API client
├── admin-api-client.ts     # Admin-only API client with role checks
└── protected-endpoints.ts  # Type-safe wrapper functions

File Purposes

1. endpoint-types.ts

• Define all TypeScript interfaces for API data
• Organize types by domain (e.g., audiences, instances, membership)
• Include param types, response types, and request body DTOs
• Provide utility types for extracting types

See references/endpoint-types-pattern.md for detailed structure.

2. endpoints.ts

• Define all API endpoint URLs in one place
• Organize by feature/domain matching types
• Use functions that accept parameters and return URLs
• Support environment variable base URLs

See references/endpoints-pattern.md for detailed structure.

3. api-client.ts

• Generic API client with automatic authentication
• Error parsing and handling
• Support for GET, POST, PUT, DELETE methods
• Server-side only ('use server')

See references/api-client-pattern.md for implementation.

4. admin-api-client.ts

• Admin-specific API client
• Role validation (Admin/SuperAdmin groups)
• Permission checking functions
• Throws AdminAuthError if unauthorized

See references/admin-api-client-pattern.md for implementation.

5. protected-endpoints.ts

• Type-safe wrapper functions combining URLs + types + clients
• Organized to match endpoint-types structure
• Provides clean import: import { api } from '@/lib/api/protected-endpoints'
• No 'use server' directive (exports objects)

See references/protected-endpoints-pattern.md for detailed structure.

Authentication System

This application uses Supabase Auth for authentication. All API requests require authentication via Supabase access tokens.

Supabase Client Structure

src/lib/supabase/
├── client.ts      # Browser-side Supabase client
├── server.ts      # Server-side Supabase client (RSC, Server Actions)
└── middleware.ts  # Middleware helper for auth cookie refresh

Auth Flow

1. User authenticates via Supabase (email/password, OAuth, etc.)
2. Supabase stores session in httpOnly cookies
3. Middleware refreshes session on every request
4. Server components/actions use createClient() from server.ts
5. API client extracts access token from session automatically

See references/supabase-auth-integration.md for detailed implementation.

Role-Based Access Pattern

Regular User Endpoints

Use api-client.ts functions with automatic Supabase auth:

import { apiGet, apiPost } from '@/lib/api/api-client';

// Access token extracted from Supabase session automatically
const data = await apiGet<ResponseType>(url);

Admin-Only Endpoints

Use admin-api-client.ts functions with role validation:

import { adminApiRequest, checkAdminPermission } from '@/lib/api/admin-api-client';

// Validate admin access first (checks user role from database)
await checkAdminPermission(); // Throws if not admin

// Make admin API request
const data = await adminApiRequest<ResponseType>(url, options);

Admin Roles

Admin roles are stored in the users table:

• users.role = 'admin' - Standard admin access
• users.role = 'member' - Regular user access

First user in a family is automatically assigned admin role.

Adding New API Endpoints

Follow this exact order when integrating a new API into the application:

Step 1: Define Types in endpoint-types.ts

// 1. Define response type(s)
export interface ResourceItem {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  // ... other fields from your API response
}

// 2. Define request DTO(s) for mutations
export interface CreateResourceDto {
  name: string;
  // ... fields required to create
}

// 3. Add parameter types to EndpointParams interface
export interface EndpointParams {
  // ... existing domains

  resources: {
    list: void;              // No params needed
    get: { id: string };     // Requires ID
    create: void;            // Body in request, not params
    update: { id: string };
    delete: { id: string };
  };
}

// 4. Add response types to EndpointResponses interface
export interface EndpointResponses {
  // ... existing domains

  resources: {
    list: ResourceItem[];
    get: ResourceItem;
    create: ResourceItem;
    update: ResourceItem;
    delete: void;
  };
}

// 5. Add request body types to EndpointBodies interface (if needed)
export interface EndpointBodies {
  // ... existing domains

  resources: {
    create: CreateResourceDto;
    update: CreateResourceDto;
  };
}

Step 2: Define URLs in endpoints.ts

export const API_ENDPOINTS = {
  // ... existing categories

  resources: {
    list: () => `${API_BASE}/api/resources`,
    get: (id: string) => `${API_BASE}/api/resources/${id}`,
    create: () => `${API_BASE}/api/resources`,
    update: (id: string) => `${API_BASE}/api/resources/${id}`,
    delete: (id: string) => `${API_BASE}/api/resources/${id}`,
  },
};

Step 3: Add Wrapper in protected-endpoints.ts

export const api = {
  // ... existing domains

  resources: {
    async list(): Promise<ResourceItem[]> {
      return apiGet<ResourceItem[]>(
        API_ENDPOINTS.resources.list()
      );
    },

    async get(id: string): Promise<ResourceItem> {
      return apiGet<ResourceItem>(
        API_ENDPOINTS.resources.get(id)
      );
    },

    async create(data: CreateResourceDto): Promise<ResourceItem> {
      return apiPost<ResourceItem, CreateResourceDto>(
        API_ENDPOINTS.resources.create(),
        data
      );
    },

    async update(id: string, data: CreateResourceDto): Promise<ResourceItem> {
      return apiPut<ResourceItem, CreateResourceDto>(
        API_ENDPOINTS.resources.update(id),
        data
      );
    },

    async delete(id: string): Promise<void> {
      return apiDelete<void>(
        API_ENDPOINTS.resources.delete(id)
      );
    },
  },
};

Step 4: Use in Application Code

'use server';

import { api } from '@/lib/api/protected-endpoints';

// In a server component or server action
const resources = await api.resources.list();
const resource = await api.resources.get(id);
const newResource = await api.resources.create({
  name: 'New Resource'
});

Naming Conventions

Endpoint Operations

• list / listAll - GET multiple items
• get - GET single item
• create - POST new item
• update - PUT/PATCH existing item
• delete - DELETE item

Type Naming

• Response types: PascalCase describing entity (e.g., AudienceListItem)
• DTOs: PascalCase with suffix (e.g., CreateUserDto, UpdateSettingsDto)
• Interfaces match plural for collections, singular for items

Error Handling

All API clients handle errors automatically:

try {
  const data = await api.myFeature.get(id);
} catch (error) {
  // Error already parsed and formatted
  console.error('API error:', error.message);
}

Common error types:

• AdminAuthError - Admin permission denied
• AdminApiError - Admin API request failed
• Generic errors from api-client with parsed messages

Authentication Flow

Regular Endpoints

1. Client calls protected endpoint wrapper (e.g., api.resources.list())
2. Wrapper calls apiGet/apiPost/etc from api-client
3. api-client calls getAuthHeaders()
4. getAuthHeaders uses Supabase server client to get session:

   const supabase = await createClient();
   const { data: { session } } = await supabase.auth.getSession();
   const accessToken = session?.access_token;
   

5. Access token added to Authorization header
6. Request sent with automatic authentication

Admin Endpoints

Same flow as above, but with additional role check:

1. Call checkAdminPermission() first
2. checkAdminPermission queries users table for current user's role
3. Throws AdminAuthError if role is not 'admin'
4. Then proceeds with normal authentication flow

Best Practices

1. Never hardcode URLs - Always use API_ENDPOINTS
2. Always define types first - Types drive implementation
3. One wrapper per endpoint - Keep protected-endpoints clean
4. Group by domain - Match structure across all 5 files
5. Use helper functions - apiGet, apiPost, etc. handle auth
6. Validate admin access early - Call checkAdminPermission() first
7. Document complex endpoints - Add JSDoc comments
8. Handle errors gracefully - API clients provide good error messages

Environment Variables

Required for Supabase Auth

• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL - Supabase project URL
• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY - Supabase anonymous public key

Required for API Clients

• INSTANCE_API_URL or API_URL - Base URL for external API endpoints
• NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL - Site URL for redirects (optional, defaults to localhost:3000)

Database

• Supabase connection is handled automatically via the Supabase client
• No manual connection strings needed

Migration from Other Patterns

If migrating existing API code to this pattern:

1. Extract all endpoint URLs to endpoints.ts
2. Create types in endpoint-types.ts for params/responses
3. Replace direct fetch calls with apiGet/apiPost/etc
4. Add wrappers to protected-endpoints.ts
5. Update imports to use api object

Example migration:

// Before (scattered fetch calls)
const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/api/resources/${id}`, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }
});
const resource = await response.json();

// After (centralized pattern)
import { api } from '@/lib/api/protected-endpoints';
const resource = await api.resources.get(id); // Auth automatic, types included

References

See reference files for detailed implementation patterns:

• references/supabase-auth-integration.md - Supabase auth setup and integration
• references/endpoint-types-pattern.md - Type definition structure
• references/endpoints-pattern.md - URL organization pattern
• references/api-client-pattern.md - Generic client implementation with Supabase
• references/admin-api-client-pattern.md - Admin client with role-based access
• references/protected-endpoints-pattern.md - Wrapper function patterns