REST Protocol Setup

This skill configures @data-client/rest for a project. It should be applied after skill "rdc-setup" detects REST API patterns.

First, apply the skill "rdc-rest" for accurate implementation patterns.

Installation

Install the REST package alongside the core package:

# npm
npm install @data-client/rest

# yarn
yarn add @data-client/rest

# pnpm
pnpm add @data-client/rest

Custom RestEndpoint Base Class

After installing, offer to create a custom RestEndpoint class for the project.

Detection Checklist

Scan the existing codebase for common REST patterns to include:

1. Base URL / API prefix: Look for hardcoded URLs like https://api.example.com or env vars like process.env.API_URL
2. Authentication: Look for Authorization headers, tokens in localStorage/cookies, auth interceptors
3. Content-Type handling: Check if API uses JSON, form-data, or custom content types
4. Error handling: Look for error response patterns, status code handling
5. Request/Response transforms: Data transformations, date parsing, case conversion
6. Query string format: Simple params vs nested objects (may need qs library)

Base Class Template

Create a file at src/api/BaseEndpoint.ts (or similar location based on project structure):

import { RestEndpoint, RestGenerics } from '@data-client/rest';

/**
 * Base RestEndpoint with project-specific defaults.
 * Extend this for all REST API endpoints.
 */
export class BaseEndpoint<O extends RestGenerics = any> extends RestEndpoint<O> {
  // API base URL - adjust based on detected patterns
  urlPrefix = process.env.REACT_APP_API_URL ?? 'https://api.example.com';

  // Add authentication headers
  getHeaders(headers: HeadersInit): HeadersInit {
    const token = localStorage.getItem('authToken');
    return {
      ...headers,
      ...(token && { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }),
    };
  }
}

Common Lifecycle Overrides

Include these based on what's detected in the codebase. See RestEndpoint for full API documentation.

Authentication (async token refresh)

async getHeaders(headers: HeadersInit): Promise<HeadersInit> {
  const token = await getValidToken(); // handles refresh
  return {
    ...headers,
    Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
  };
}

Custom Request Init (CSRF, credentials)

getRequestInit(body?: RequestInit['body'] | Record<string, unknown>): RequestInit {
  return {
    ...super.getRequestInit(body),
    credentials: 'include', // for cookies
    headers: {
      'X-CSRF-Token': getCsrfToken(),
    },
  };
}

Custom Response Parsing (unwrap data envelope)

process(value: any, ...args: any[]) {
  // If API wraps responses in { data: ... }
  return value.data ?? value;
}

Custom Error Handling

async fetchResponse(input: RequestInfo, init: RequestInit): Promise<Response> {
  const response = await super.fetchResponse(input, init);
  
  // Handle specific status codes
  if (response.status === 401) {
    // Trigger logout or token refresh
    window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('auth:expired'));
  }
  
  return response;
}

Custom Search Params (using qs library)

searchToString(searchParams: Record<string, any>): string {
  // For complex nested query params
  return qs.stringify(searchParams, { arrayFormat: 'brackets' });
}

Custom parseResponse (handle non-JSON)

async parseResponse(response: Response): Promise<any> {
  const contentType = response.headers.get('content-type');
  
  if (contentType?.includes('text/csv')) {
    return parseCSV(await response.text());
  }
  
  return super.parseResponse(response);
}

Full Example with Multiple Overrides

import { RestEndpoint, RestGenerics } from '@data-client/rest';
import qs from 'qs';

export class BaseEndpoint<O extends RestGenerics = any> extends RestEndpoint<O> {
  urlPrefix = process.env.API_URL ?? 'http://localhost:3001/api';

  async getHeaders(headers: HeadersInit): Promise<HeadersInit> {
    const token = await getAuthToken();
    return {
      ...headers,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      ...(token && { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` }),
    };
  }

  getRequestInit(body?: RequestInit['body'] | Record<string, unknown>): RequestInit {
    return {
      ...super.getRequestInit(body),
      credentials: 'include',
    };
  }

  searchToString(searchParams: Record<string, any>): string {
    return qs.stringify(searchParams, { arrayFormat: 'brackets' });
  }

  process(value: any, ...args: any[]) {
    // Unwrap { data: ... } envelope if present
    return value?.data ?? value;
  }
}

// Helper function - implement based on project auth pattern
async function getAuthToken(): Promise<string | null> {
  // Check for valid token, refresh if needed
  return localStorage.getItem('token');
}

Usage After Setup

Once the base class is created, use it instead of RestEndpoint directly:

import { BaseEndpoint } from './BaseEndpoint';
import { Todo } from '../schemas/Todo';

export const getTodo = new BaseEndpoint({
  path: '/todos/:id',
  schema: Todo,
});

export const updateTodo = getTodo.extend({ method: 'PUT' });

Or with resource():

import { resource } from '@data-client/rest';
import { BaseEndpoint } from './BaseEndpoint';
import { Todo } from '../schemas/Todo';

export const TodoResource = resource({
  path: '/todos/:id',
  schema: Todo,
  Endpoint: BaseEndpoint,
});

Next Steps

1. Apply skill "rdc-schema" to define Entity classes
2. Apply skill "rdc-rest" for resource and endpoint patterns
3. Apply skill "rdc-react" or "rdc-vue" for usage

References

• RestEndpoint - Full RestEndpoint API
• resource - Resource factory function
• Authentication Guide - Auth patterns and examples
• Django Integration - Django REST Framework patterns