api-design

API Design Patterns

Overview

HTTP handlers have one job: translate between HTTP and your domain. They validate input at the boundary, call business logic written as fn(args, deps) returning a Result, and map that result to an HTTP response. Handlers stay thin and contain no business logic. That keeps them testable, keeps domain code transport-agnostic, and keeps error/operational concerns consistent across every endpoint.

HTTP Request
    |
    v
Handler (thin layer)
    |-> Validate Input (Zod via framework)
    |-> Call Business Logic: fn(args, deps) -> Result
    |-> Map Result to HTTP Response
    |
    v
HTTP Response

When to Use

• Designing or implementing new HTTP endpoints
• Writing orpc route factories with dependency injection
• Defining request/response contracts with Zod schemas
• Mapping domain errors to consistent HTTP status codes
• Adding operational concerns: health checks, CORS, idempotency, rate limiting, graceful shutdown

When NOT to use: Internal function-to-function calls (no HTTP boundary), pure domain logic, or background jobs that never face an HTTP request. Validate-at-boundary logic belongs in validation-boundary; error modelling belongs in result-types.

Related: fn-args-deps (the handler delegates to these), validation-boundary (input validation at the edge), result-types (what business logic returns), resilience (retry/timeout around calls), observability (request IDs and tracing).

For how this layer fits the whole system, see references/architecture.md.

Required Behaviors

1. Route Factory Pattern with DI

Each route follows fn(args, deps) and uses a factory for dependency injection:

// routes/posts/get-post.ts
import { os, ORPCError } from "@orpc/server";
import { z } from "zod";
import type { PostRepository } from "./types";

// Explicit deps type for this route
type GetPostDeps = {
  postRepo: PostRepository;
};

// Factory function: creates route with injected deps
export function createGetPost({ deps }: { deps: GetPostDeps }) {
  return os
    .input(z.object({ postId: z.string().uuid() }))
    .output(PostResponse)
    .handler(async ({ input }) => {
      const post = await deps.postRepo.findById({ id: input.postId });
      if (!post) {
        throw new ORPCError("NOT_FOUND", {
          status: 404,
          message: `Post ${input.postId} not found`,
        });
      }
      return post;
    });
}

2. Consistent Error Envelope

All errors MUST use the same JSON shape:

const ErrorResponse = z.object({
  code: z.string(),           // Machine-readable: "NOT_FOUND"
  message: z.string(),        // Human-readable explanation
  requestId: z.string(),      // For correlation in logs
  details: z.unknown().optional(),
});

function createErrorResponse(
  code: string,
  message: string,
  requestId: string,
  details?: unknown
) {
  return { code, message, requestId, details };
}

Rule: ORPCError(code) must match ErrorResponse.code:

// CORRECT - codes match
throw new ORPCError("NOT_FOUND", {
  status: 404,
  data: createErrorResponse("NOT_FOUND", "User not found", requestId),
});

// WRONG - codes mismatch
throw new ORPCError("BAD_REQUEST", {
  data: createErrorResponse("MISSING_FIELD", ...), // Confusing!
});

3. Standard Error Mapping

Map all error types consistently:

const errorToStatus: Record<string, number> = {
  NOT_FOUND: 404,
  UNAUTHORIZED: 401,
  FORBIDDEN: 403,
  VALIDATION_FAILED: 400,
  CONFLICT: 409,
  TOO_MANY_REQUESTS: 429,
  SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE: 503,
};

4. Health and Readiness Endpoints

// /health - Liveness (is process running?)
export const health = os.handler(() => ({ status: "ok" }));

// /ready - Readiness (can handle traffic?)
export const ready = os.handler(async () => {
  const checks = {
    database: await checkDatabase(),
    cache: await checkCache(),
  };

  const allHealthy = Object.values(checks).every(Boolean);

  if (!allHealthy) {
    throw new ORPCError("SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE", {
      status: 503,
      data: { status: "not_ready", checks },
    });
  }

  return { status: "ready", checks };
});

Response contract:

• 200: { status: "ready", checks }
• 503: { status: "not_ready", checks }

5. X-Request-ID Header (Central Middleware)

Set this header centrally, not in each handler:

// In top-level request middleware or response hook
response.headers.set("X-Request-ID", context.requestId);

6. CORS Configuration

new CORSPlugin({
  origin: (origin) => {
    // No Origin = not a browser request (curl, server-to-server)
    // Return null = "don't emit CORS headers" (request proceeds normally)
    if (!origin) return null;
    // Return origin string to allow, null to deny
    return ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin) ? origin : null;
  },
  allowMethods: ['GET', 'POST', 'PUT', 'DELETE', 'OPTIONS'],
  allowHeaders: ['Content-Type', 'Authorization', 'Idempotency-Key'],
  credentials: true,
});

7. Idempotency for Mutations

export const createOrder = os
  .input(CreateOrderInput)
  .handler(async ({ input, context }) => {
    const { req, requestId } = context as AppContext;

    const idempotencyKey = req.headers.get('idempotency-key');
    if (!idempotencyKey) {
      throw new ORPCError("MISSING_IDEMPOTENCY_KEY", {
        status: 400,
        data: createErrorResponse(
          "MISSING_IDEMPOTENCY_KEY",
          "Idempotency-Key header required",
          requestId
        ),
      });
    }

    // Check cache for existing result, or process and store
    // ...
  });

8. Rate Limiting with Retry-After

throw new ORPCError("TOO_MANY_REQUESTS", {
  status: 429,
  headers: { "Retry-After": "60" },  // Seconds until retry allowed
  data: createErrorResponse(
    "TOO_MANY_REQUESTS",
    "Rate limit exceeded. Try again in 60 seconds.",
    requestId
  ),
});

9. Graceful Shutdown

let isShuttingDown = false;

process.on('SIGTERM', () => {
  isShuttingDown = true;
  // Wait for in-flight requests, then exit
});

// In handlers or middleware
if (isShuttingDown) {
  throw new ORPCError("SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE", {
    status: 503,
    message: "Server is shutting down",
  });
}

10. Route File Organization

One file per route with co-located tests:

routes/
├── posts/
│   ├── get-post.ts           # Route factory
│   ├── get-post.test.ts      # Co-located test
│   ├── list-posts.ts
│   ├── create-post.ts
│   ├── index.ts              # Composes postsRouter
│   └── schemas.ts            # Shared Zod schemas
└── index.ts                  # Composes apiRouter

Naming conventions:

Operation	File Name	Factory	Router Key
Get one	get-post.ts	createGetPost	getPost
List	list-posts.ts	createListPosts	listPosts
Create	create-post.ts	createCreatePost	createPost

Composition at boundaries:

// routes/posts/index.ts
export function createPostsRouter({ deps }: { deps: PostsRouterDeps }) {
  return {
    getPost: createGetPost({ deps }),
    listPosts: createListPosts({ deps }),
    createPost: createCreatePost({ deps }),
  };
}

// routes/index.ts
export function createApiRouter({ deps }: { deps: ApiRouterDeps }) {
  return {
    posts: createPostsRouter({ deps }),
    users: createUsersRouter({ deps }),
  };
}

Testing Routes

import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from "vitest";
import { call, ORPCError } from "@orpc/server";
import { mock } from "vitest-mock-extended";
import { createGetPost, type GetPostDeps } from "./get-post";

describe("getPost", () => {
  const postId = "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000";
  let deps: GetPostDeps;
  let getPost: ReturnType<typeof createGetPost>;

  beforeEach(() => {
    deps = { postRepo: mock() };
    getPost = createGetPost({ deps });
  });

  it("returns post when found", async () => {
    deps.postRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue({
      id: postId,
      title: "Test Post",
    });

    const result = await call(getPost, { postId });
    expect(result.title).toBe("Test Post");
  });

  it("throws NOT_FOUND when post missing", async () => {
    deps.postRepo.findById.mockResolvedValue(null);

    try {
      await call(getPost, { postId });
      expect.fail("Should have thrown");
    } catch (error) {
      expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(ORPCError);
      expect((error as ORPCError).code).toBe("NOT_FOUND");
    }
  });
});

Common Rationalizations

Rationalization	Reality
"Just put the business logic in the handler, it's faster"	Handlers coupled to HTTP can't be reused or tested without spinning up a server. Keep them thin; delegate to fn(args, deps).
"Each endpoint can shape its own errors"	Inconsistent error bodies force every consumer to special-case each endpoint. Use one envelope everywhere.
"We'll add health checks before launch"	Orchestrators (k8s, ECS) need /health and /ready to route traffic safely. Add them from the start.
"Idempotency keys are overkill"	Network retries WILL replay your POST. Without a key, you double-charge or double-create.
"We can retry inside the handler"	Retry belongs at the workflow level, once. See resilience for why double-retry is dangerous.
"Set X-Request-ID in each handler"	Per-handler header logic drifts. Set it once in middleware so every response is correlated.

Red Flags

• Business logic (queries, calculations, side effects) living inside a handler
• Different error shapes across endpoints, or ORPCError(code) not matching ErrorResponse.code
• List endpoints without pagination
• Mutation endpoints with no Idempotency-Key handling
• No /health or /ready endpoints
• Retry-After missing on 429 responses
• Request IDs set inconsistently or not at all
• Internal error details (stack traces, SQL) leaking into 500 responses

Verification

After implementing an API surface:

• Each route is a factory taking injected deps and delegates to business logic
• Every error response uses the same envelope and the code matches the ORPCError code
• Domain errors map to status codes via a single shared mapping
• /health (200) and /ready (200/503) endpoints exist
• Mutations require and honor an Idempotency-Key
• 429 responses include Retry-After; shutdown drains with 503
• X-Request-ID is set centrally in middleware
• Each route has a co-located test exercising success and error paths

Quick Reference

Concern	Pattern	Where
Input validation	Zod schemas	Framework boundary
Error format	Consistent envelope	All error responses
Error codes	ORPCError(code) = ErrorResponse.code	Handler
Request ID	Set in middleware	Top-level
Health check	/health (200)	Liveness
Readiness	/ready (200/503)	Traffic routing
CORS	Plugin with origin callback	Framework config
Idempotency	Idempotency-Key header	Create/mutate endpoints
Rate limits	429 + Retry-After header	Middleware
Shutdown	503 during drain	All endpoints
Route files	One per route, co-located tests	Organization