Key idea behind API contracts: backend owns entire definition for the route, including its path, HTTP method used and response structure expectations, and exposes it as a part of its API schemas. Then frontend consumes that definition instead of forming full request configuration manually on the client side.
This reduces amount of assumptions FE needs to make about the behaviour of BE, reduces amount of code that needs to be written on FE, and makes the code more type-safe (as path parameter setting is handled by logic exposed by BE, in a type-safe way).
Usage examples:
import { buildGetRoute, buildDeleteRoute, buildPayloadRoute } from '@lokalise/api-contracts'
const getContract = buildGetRoute({
successResponseBodySchema: RESPONSE_BODY_SCHEMA,
requestPathParamsSchema: REQUEST_PATH_PARAMS_SCHEMA,
requestQuerySchema: REQUEST_QUERY_SCHEMA,
requestHeaderSchema: REQUEST_HEADER_SCHEMA,
pathResolver: (pathParams) => `/users/${pathParams.userId}`,
summary: 'Route summary',
metadata: { allowedRoles: ['admin'] },
})
const postContract = buildPayloadRoute({
method: 'post', // can also be 'patch' or 'post'
successResponseBodySchema: RESPONSE_BODY_SCHEMA,
requestBodySchema: REQUEST_BODY_SCHEMA,
pathResolver: () => '/',
summary: 'Route summary',
metadata: { allowedPermission: ['edit'] },
})
const deleteContract = buildDeleteRoute({
successResponseBodySchema: RESPONSE_BODY_SCHEMA,
requestPathParamsSchema: REQUEST_PATH_PARAMS_SCHEMA,
pathResolver: (pathParams) => `/users/${pathParams.userId}`,
})
In the previous example, the metadata
property is an optional, free-form field that allows you to store any additional
information related to the route. If you require more precise type definitions for the metadata
field, you can utilize
TypeScript's module augmentation mechanism to enforce stricter typing. This allows for more controlled and type-safe
usage in your route definitions.
Here is how you can apply strict typing to the metadata
property using TypeScript module augmentation:
// file -> apiContracts.d.ts
// Import the existing module to ensure TypeScript recognizes the original definitions
import '@lokalise/api-contracts';
// Augment the module to extend the interface with specific properties
declare module '@lokalise/api-contracts' {
interface CommonRouteDefinitionMetadata {
myTestProp?: string[];
mySecondTestProp?: number;
}
}
Note that in order to make contract-based requests, you need to use a compatible HTTP client
(@lokalise/frontend-http-client
or @lokalise/backend-http-client
)
In case you are using fastify on the backend, you can also use @lokalise/fastify-api-contracts
in order to simplify definition of your fastify routes, utilizing contracts as the single source of truth.