Connect API

Detect frontend HTTP calls and match them to backend route definitions, creating API_ENDPOINT edges in the knowledge graph.

How It Works

The connector scans frontend files for HTTP calls and backend files for route definitions, normalizes URL paths, and matches them using a multi-strategy algorithm:

1. Exact match — normalized paths identical
2. Prefix-augmented — prepends routePrefix to frontend path
3. Suffix match — strips routePrefix from backend, matches remainder
4. Deep strip — strips leading {param} segments from backend (handles class-level {companyId} routes)
5. Controller resolution — resolves .NET [controller] placeholder to actual class name

Zero-Config Auto-Detection

No configuration needed. The connector auto-detects frameworks by scanning for marker files:

Frontend	Markers
Angular	angular.json, nx.json, @angular/core in package.json
React	react in package.json
Vue	vue.config.js, vue in package.json
Next.js	next.config.js, next in package.json
Svelte	svelte.config.js, svelte in package.json

Backend	Markers
.NET	*.csproj with Microsoft.AspNetCore
Spring	pom.xml/build.gradle with spring-boot
Express	express in package.json
NestJS	@nestjs/core in package.json
FastAPI	fastapi in requirements.txt
Django	manage.py with django
Rails	Gemfile with rails
Go	go.mod (Gin/Echo patterns)

Auto-Run Behavior

The connector runs automatically in these situations:

When	Behavior
After build / update / sync	Always runs via _auto_connect()
First trace / query / connections	Runs once via _ensure_connectors_ran() if never run before

You almost never need to run this manually. The graph CLI handles it automatically.

Custom Config (Optional)

For projects with custom HTTP patterns (e.g., base class API service), add to docs/project-config.json:

{
    "graphConnectors": {
        "apiEndpoints": {
            "enabled": true,
            "frontend": {
                "framework": "angular",
                "paths": ["src/app/"],
                "customPatterns": ["this\\.\\s*(get|post|put|delete|patch)\\s*[<(]\\s*['\"]([^\"']+)"]
            },
            "backend": {
                "framework": "dotnet",
                "paths": ["src/Api/Controllers/"],
                "routePrefix": "api",
                "customPatterns": []
            }
        }
    }
}

Custom patterns extend (not replace) built-in framework patterns. Explicit config overrides auto-detected config for paths.

Manual Run

python .claude/scripts/code_graph connect-api --json

Steps (when manually invoked)

1. Run connector via Bash:

   python .claude/scripts/code_graph connect-api --json
   

2. Report results: Frontend calls found, backend routes found, matches created, edge count

Matching Strategies

The connector tries 5 strategies in order (highest confidence first):

#	Strategy	Confidence	Example
1	Exact match	1.0	FE /api/users = BE /api/users
2	Prefix-augmented	0.95	FE /users + prefix api → /api/users
3	Suffix match	0.9	BE /api/users stripped → /users = FE /users
4	Deep strip	0.85	BE /api/{param}/users → /users = FE /users
5	Deep strip both	0.8	Both sides have {param} segments stripped

See Also

• Implicit Connections — For event buses, entity events: graphConnectors.implicitConnections[] in project-config.json. CLI: connect-implicit --json

Related Skills

• /graph-build — Build/update the knowledge graph (prerequisite)
• /graph-trace — Trace full system flow (API_ENDPOINT edges enable frontend-to-backend tracing)
• /graph-blast-radius — Analyze structural impact of changes
• /graph-query — Query code relationships in the graph