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Atlas Whoff
Atlas Whoff

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REST API Design Best Practices: Versioning, Response Shapes, Pagination, and Rate Limiting

#typescript #node #api #webdev

API design decisions made at the start of a project are hard to change later. Get them right once and your API becomes a durable foundation. Get them wrong and every integration is a negotiation with technical debt.

Versioning Strategy

Version in the URL. It's verbose but explicit:

/api/v1/users
/api/v2/users
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Header versioning (API-Version: 2) is cleaner but harder to test and cache. URL versioning wins for public APIs.

When to bump the version:

  • Removing or renaming fields in responses
  • Changing field types
  • Breaking changes to request format

When NOT to bump:

  • Adding new optional fields (backward compatible)
  • New endpoints
  • Bug fixes

Consistent Response Shape

Pick a response envelope and stick to it:

// Success
{
  "data": { "id": "123", "name": "Alice" },
  "meta": { "requestId": "uuid" }
}

// Error
{
  "error": {
    "code": "NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "User not found",
    "requestId": "uuid"
  }
}

// Paginated list
{
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "cursor": "next_cursor_token",
    "hasMore": true,
    "total": 1247
  }
}
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Consistent shape means clients write one response handler, not N.

HTTP Semantics

Use HTTP methods and status codes correctly:

// GET -- read, safe and idempotent
GET /api/v1/users/123         -> 200 OK
GET /api/v1/users/999         -> 404 Not Found

// POST -- create
POST /api/v1/users            -> 201 Created
POST /api/v1/users (invalid)  -> 422 Unprocessable Entity

// PUT -- replace entire resource
PUT /api/v1/users/123         -> 200 OK

// PATCH -- partial update
PATCH /api/v1/users/123       -> 200 OK

// DELETE
DELETE /api/v1/users/123      -> 204 No Content
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Pagination 

// Cursor-based (preferred for feeds)
GET /api/v1/posts?cursor=eyJpZCI6MTIzfQ&limit=20

// Offset-based (simpler, fine for admin/search)
GET /api/v1/posts?page=3&perPage=20

// Response includes next cursor
{
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": { "nextCursor": "eyJpZCI6MTQzfQ", "hasMore": true }
}
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Filtering and Sorting 

// Filtering
GET /api/v1/orders?status=pending&userId=123

// Sorting
GET /api/v1/orders?sort=createdAt&order=desc

// Field selection (reduce payload size)
GET /api/v1/users?fields=id,name,email

// Date range
GET /api/v1/orders?from=2026-01-01&to=2026-03-31
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Rate Limiting Headers 

return Response.json(data, {
  headers: {
    'X-RateLimit-Limit': '100',
    'X-RateLimit-Remaining': String(remaining),
    'X-RateLimit-Reset': String(resetTimestamp),
    'Retry-After': remaining === 0 ? String(retryAfterSeconds) : undefined,
  },
})
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API Keys 

// Generate API key
const key = `sk_${crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex')}`
const hashedKey = await bcrypt.hash(key, 10)

// Store hash, return plaintext once
await db.apiKey.create({ data: { hash: hashedKey, userId } })
return Response.json({ key }) // show once

// Verify on each request
const key = req.headers.get('authorization')?.replace('Bearer ', '')
const apiKeys = await db.apiKey.findMany({ where: { userId } })
const validKey = await apiKeys.some(k => bcrypt.compare(key, k.hash))
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OpenAPI / Swagger

Document your API with OpenAPI spec. Generate from tRPC or write it manually:

npx @redocly/cli preview-docs openapi.yaml
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Published docs reduce integration time for third parties and your own team.

The Ship Fast Skill Pack at whoffagents.com includes an /api skill that scaffolds versioned REST or GraphQL routes, pagination helpers, and response envelope utilities. $49 one-time.

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