JSON REST API Guide

A comprehensive guide to building REST APIs with json-rest-api.

Table of Contents

Core Documentation

1. Core Library and Plugins
   • Basics: Creating APIs with createApi and manual setup
   • Core plugins overview (memory, mysql, http, validation, positioning, timestamps)
   • Relations: One-to-many and many-to-one relationships
   • Querying: Searchable fields and filtering
   • Validation: Schema validation system
   • Positioning: Ordered records
   • Hooks: Resource and API-wide lifecycle hooks
   • API Usage: Programmatic access patterns
2. Core Extra Plugins
   • audit-log: Track all changes
   • authorization: Role-based access control
   • computed: Dynamic field calculations
   • cors: Cross-origin resource sharing
   • csrf: CSRF protection
   • jwt: JSON Web Token authentication
   • logging: Request/response logging
   • migration-plugin: Database migrations
   • query-limits: Prevent resource exhaustion
   • security: Security headers and protections
   • versioning: API versioning support
   • views: Custom data transformations
3. Protocol Plugins
   • simplified-records: Simplified JSON format
   • graphql: GraphQL API support
   • websocket: Real-time subscriptions
   • grpc: gRPC protocol support
   • schema-export: OpenAPI/JSON Schema generation
4. Infrastructure Plugins
   • api-gateway: Multi-API routing
   • cli: Command-line interface
   • service-discovery: Microservice integration
5. Enterprise Plugins
   • microservices: Distributed API patterns
   • cqrs: Command Query Responsibility Segregation
   • ddd: Domain-Driven Design support
   • bounded-context: DDD context boundaries
   • architecture-enforcement: Code structure rules
   • dependency-graph: Dependency visualization

Reference Documentation

1. API Reference
   • Complete API documentation
   • Method signatures
   • Configuration options
   • Plugin interfaces
2. Examples
   • Real-world use cases
   • Common patterns
   • Best practices
   • Integration examples

Quick Start

import { createApi, Schema } from 'json-rest-api';
import express from 'express';

const app = express();
const api = createApi({ 
  storage: 'memory',
  http: { app }
});

// Define a resource
api.addResource('users', new Schema({
  name: { type: 'string', required: true },
  email: { type: 'string', required: true },
  age: { type: 'number', min: 0 }
}));

// Start server
app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('API running on http://localhost:3000');
});

Philosophy

This library follows these core principles:

1. Plugin-Based Architecture: Everything is a plugin, allowing maximum flexibility
2. Schema-First: Define your data structure and let the library handle the rest
3. Standards Compliant: JSON:API format by default
4. Type Safe: Built-in validation and type checking
5. Relationship Aware: First-class support for relational data
6. Production Ready: Security, performance, and monitoring built-in

Getting Help

• Read through the guide sections in order for the best learning experience
• Check the API Reference for detailed method documentation
• Browse Examples for real-world patterns
• Review plugin documentation for specific features

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on contributing to this project.