Technical Specification

Position in workflow: v0.6 Architecture Design → v0.6 Technical Specification → v0.7 Build Execution

Technical specification defines the contracts developers build against: API endpoints and data models. This is the bridge between architecture and implementation.

Specification Types

Rule: Every API- should know which DBT- it reads/writes. Every DBT- should know which API- accesses it.

Specification Process

1. Pull ARC- decisions — System structure and boundaries

2. Pull TECH- Build items — What we're implementing

3. Pull UJ- journeys — User flows the API must support

4. Pull SCR- screens — UI data requirements

5. Define API contracts for each endpoint:

   • What's the request/response shape?
   • What auth is required?
   • What errors can occur?

6. Define data models for each entity:

   • What fields exist?
   • What relationships?
   • What constraints?

7. Validate consistency:

   • Does every screen have APIs to fetch its data?
   • Does every API response map to DBT- fields?

API- Output Template

API-XXX: [Endpoint Name]
Method: [GET | POST | PUT | PATCH | DELETE]
Path: [/resource/{id}/action]
Purpose: [What this endpoint does]
Auth: [Public | User | Admin | Service]

Journey: [UJ-XXX that uses this]
Screen: [SCR-XXX that calls this]

Request:
  Headers:
    - Authorization: Bearer <token>
    - Content-Type: application/json
  Params:
    - id: string (required) — Resource identifier
  Query:
    - limit: number (optional, default 20) — Pagination limit
  Body:
    {
      field: type — Description
    }

Response:
  Success (200/201):
    {
      data: { ... }
    }
  Errors:
    - 400: Invalid input — [when this occurs]
    - 401: Unauthorized — [when this occurs]
    - 404: Not found — [when this occurs]
    - 500: Server error — [when this occurs]

Business Rules: [BR-XXX enforced here]
Data: [DBT-XXX entities accessed]
Rate Limit: [requests/minute if applicable]

Example API- entry:

API-001: Create Report
Method: POST
Path: /api/reports
Purpose: Create a new report from selected data source and template
Auth: User

Journey: UJ-001 (Step 1 - Create Report)
Screen: SCR-002 (Report Builder)

Request:
  Headers:
    - Authorization: Bearer <token>
    - Content-Type: application/json
  Body:
    {
      title: string (required) — Report name
      templateId: string (required) — Selected template
      dataSourceId: string (required) — Connected data source
      options: {
        dateRange: { start: ISO8601, end: ISO8601 }
        filters: [{ field: string, operator: string, value: any }]
      }
    }

Response:
  Success (201):
    {
      data: {
        id: string
        title: string
        status: "pending" | "generating" | "ready"
        createdAt: ISO8601
      }
    }
  Errors:
    - 400: Invalid input — Missing required field or invalid templateId
    - 401: Unauthorized — Invalid or expired token
    - 403: Forbidden — User doesn't own data source
    - 404: Not found — Template or data source not found
    - 429: Too many requests — Rate limit exceeded

Business Rules: BR-015 (max 100 reports per user)
Data: DBT-001 (reports), DBT-002 (data_sources)
Rate Limit: 10 requests/minute

DBT- Output Template

DBT-XXX: [Entity Name]
Purpose: [What this entity represents]
Table: [database_table_name]

Fields:
  - id: uuid — Primary key, auto-generated
  - [field_name]: [type] — Description [constraints]
  - created_at: timestamp — Record creation (auto)
  - updated_at: timestamp — Last modification (auto)

Relationships:
  - belongs_to: [DBT-YYY] via [foreign_key]
  - has_many: [DBT-ZZZ]

Indexes:
  - [field_name] — [Query pattern it supports]

Constraints:
  - [field]: [UNIQUE | NOT NULL | CHECK expression]

Business Rules: [BR-XXX that affect this entity]
APIs: [API-XXX that read/write this]

Example DBT- entry:

DBT-001: Reports
Purpose: Stores user-generated reports with configuration and status
Table: reports

Fields:
  - id: uuid — Primary key
  - user_id: uuid — Report owner (FK → users) [NOT NULL]
  - title: varchar(255) — Display name [NOT NULL]
  - template_id: uuid — Template used (FK → templates) [NOT NULL]
  - data_source_id: uuid — Data source (FK → data_sources) [NOT NULL]
  - status: enum('pending','generating','ready','failed') — Generation status [NOT NULL, DEFAULT 'pending']
  - options: jsonb — Report configuration (date range, filters) [DEFAULT '{}']
  - output_url: varchar(500) — Generated report file URL [NULL until ready]
  - created_at: timestamp — [NOT NULL, DEFAULT now()]
  - updated_at: timestamp — [NOT NULL, DEFAULT now()]

Relationships:
  - belongs_to: DBT-010 (users) via user_id
  - belongs_to: DBT-002 (templates) via template_id
  - belongs_to: DBT-003 (data_sources) via data_source_id

Indexes:
  - user_id — List reports by user
  - (user_id, created_at DESC) — List recent reports
  - status — Find pending reports for processing

Constraints:
  - title: NOT NULL, length 1-255
  - status: NOT NULL, valid enum value

Business Rules: BR-015 (max 100 reports per user — enforce in API)
APIs: API-001 (create), API-002 (get), API-003 (list), API-005 (delete)

API Design Principles

Data Model Principles

Validation Checklist

Use this to ensure spec completeness:

Screen-to-API Validation

• Every SCR- screen has APIs to fetch its data
• Every form submission maps to a POST/PUT/PATCH
• Every list view has a paginated GET

Journey-to-API Validation

• Every UJ- step that needs data has an API call
• API sequence supports journey flow
• Error states in journey have error responses

API-to-Data Validation

• Every API- response field maps to DBT- fields
• Every API- that writes data has a target DBT-
• Business rules (BR-) enforced in API or DB constraint

Orphan Check

• No API- without SCR-/UJ- consumer
• No DBT- table unused by any API-
• No dead code paths

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Quality Gates

Before proceeding to Build Execution:

• All SCR- screens have supporting API- endpoints
• All UJ- journeys can be completed via API- calls
• All API- responses map to DBT- fields
• All BR- rules enforced in API- or DBT- constraints
• No orphaned tables or endpoints
• Error responses documented for all endpoints

Downstream Connections

API- and DBT- entries feed into:

Detailed References

• API and data model examples: See references/examples.md
• API- entry template: See assets/api.md
• DBT- entry template: See assets/dbt.md