Guide: Using @data-client/rest for Resource Modeling

This project uses @data-client/rest to define, fetch, normalize, and update RESTful resources and entities in React/TypeScript apps with type safety and automatic cache management.
Always follow these patterns when generating code that interacts with remote APIs.

1. Defining Schemas

This project uses schemas to define and normalize data models with type safety and automatic cache management. Apply the skill “rdc-schema” for schema patterns. Always follow these patterns (apply the skill “rdc-schema”) when generating mutable data definitions.

2. Resources (resource())

• resource() creates a collection of RestEndpoints for CRUD operations on a common object
• Required fields:
  • path: path‑to‑regexp template (typed!)
  • schema: Declarative data shape for a single item (typically Entity or Union)
• Optional:
  • urlPrefix: Host root, if not /
  • searchParams: Type for query parameters (TS generic) in MyResource.getList
  • paginationField: Add MyResource.getList.getPage for pagination
  • optimistic: Boolean, when true all mutations will update optimistically, improving performance
  • body: Type for body parameter to MyResource.getList.push, MyResource.getList.unshift, MyResource.update, MyResource.partialUpdate

import { Entity, resource } from '@data-client/rest';
import { User } from './User';

export class Todo extends Entity {
  id = 0;
  user = User.fromJS();
  title = '';
  completed = false;
  createdAt = new Date();

  static key = 'Todo';
  static schema = {
    user: User,
    createdAt: (iso: string) => new Date(iso),
  }
}

export const TodoResource = resource({
  urlPrefix: 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com',
  path: '/todos/:id',
  schema: Todo,
  searchParams: {} as { userId?: string | number } | undefined,
  paginationField: 'page',
  optimistic: true,
});

Usage

Rendering

// GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/5
const todo = useSuspense(TodoResource.get, { id: 5 });
// GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos
const todoList = useSuspense(TodoResource.getList);
// GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos?userId=1
const todoListByUser = useSuspense(TodoResource.getList, { userId: 1 });

Mutations

const ctrl = useController();
// PUT https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/5
const updateTodo = todo => ctrl.fetch(TodoResource.update, { id }, todo);
// PATCH https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/5
const partialUpdateTodo = todo =>
  ctrl.fetch(TodoResource.partialUpdate, { id }, todo);
// POST https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos
const addTodoToStart = todo =>
  ctrl.fetch(TodoResource.getList.unshift, todo);
// POST https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos?userId=1
const addTodoToEnd = todo => ctrl.fetch(TodoResource.getList.push, { userId: 1 }, todo);
// DELETE https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/5
const deleteTodo = id => ctrl.fetch(TodoResource.delete, { id });
// GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos?userId=1&page=2
const getNextPage = (page) => ctrl.fetch(TodoResource.getList.getPage, { userId: 1, page })

For more detailed usage, apply the skill “rdc-react” or “rdc-vue”.

3. Custom RestEndpoint patterns

/** Stand‑alone endpoint with custom typing */
export const getTicker = new RestEndpoint({
  urlPrefix: 'https://api.exchange.coinbase.com',
  path: '/products/:product_id/ticker',
  schema: Ticker,
  pollFrequency: 2000,
});

Typing tips

• path path‑to‑regexp template for 1st arg
• method ≠ GET ⇒ 2nd arg = body (unless body: undefined)
• Provide searchParams / body values purely for type inference
• Use RestGenerics when inheriting from RestEndpoint

getOptimisticResponse()

getOptimisticResponse(snap, { id }) {
  const article = snap.get(Article, { id });
  if (!article) throw snap.abort;
  return {
    id,
    votes: article.votes + 1,
  };
}

4. RestEndpoint lifecycle methods

• Perform Fetch: fetchResponse() → parseResponse() → process()
  • url(urlParams): urlPrefix + path + (searchParams → searchToString())
  • getRequestInit(body): getHeaders() + method + signal

5. Extending Resources

Use .extend() to add or override endpoints.

export const IssueResource = resource({
  // ...base config...
}).extend((Base) => ({
  search: Base.getList.extend({
    path: '/search/issues',
    // ...custom schema or params...
  }),
}));

6. Best Practices & Notes

• When asked to browse or navigate to a web address, actual visit the address
• Always set up schema on every resource/entity/collection for normalization
• Prefer RestEndpoint over resource() for defining single endpoints or when mutation endpoints don’t exist

7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Don’t use resource() when mutation endpoints are not used or needed

References

For detailed API documentation, see the references directory:

• resource – Create CRUD endpoints
• RestEndpoint;_EndpointLifecycle.mdx;RestEndpoint.js – Single REST endpoint
• Entity;_entity_lifecycle_methods.mdx – Normalized data class
• Collection – Mutable lists
• schema – Schema overview
• Fixtures – Mock data for testing
• data-dependency;_useLive.mdx;_AsyncBoundary.mdx – Rendering guide
• mutations;_useLoading.mdx;_VoteDemo.mdx – Mutations guide

Guides (refer when user asks about these topics):

• auth – Authentication headers, tokens, login/logout flows
• pagination;_pagination.mdx – Cursor/offset pagination, infinite scroll
• optimistic-updates;_optimisticTransform.mdx – Instant UI feedback before server response
• network-transform – Transform responses, handle non-standard APIs

Concepts (refer when user asks about these topics):

• expiry-policy – Cache invalidation, stale data, dataExpiryLength, errorExpiryLength
• error-policy – Error handling, retry behavior, soft vs hard errors

ALWAYS follow these patterns and refer to the official docs for edge cases. Prioritize code generation that is idiomatic, type-safe, and leverages automatic normalization/caching via schema definitions.