# Design REST API Endpoints

Backend teams need consistent routes, status codes, and request patterns. This skill guides REST API design, endpoint changes, and documentation.

## Install

```bash
npx skillstore add eis-its/backend-api
```

## Metadata

- Status: approved
- Slug: eis-its-backend-api
- Skillstore revision: r1
- Version status: missing
- Tree hash: 19fedd4f7fa53f0d5a1618ac3eeac44a9e6bd5d402ed3aaae28fff8d0bcfa5a6
- Author: EIS-ITS
- GitHub username: EIS-ITS
- License: MIT
- Repository: https://github.com/EIS-ITS/vss-cli/tree/main/.claude/skills/backend-api
- Ref: 26421118b848d9f1efc0aa169d8a7a9e7e0a877e
- Supported tools: Claude, Codex, Claude Code
- Audit status: complete
- Agent install advisory: allowed
- Manual install advisory: allowed
- Artifact signature: available
- Audit attestation: unavailable
- Human verification: not\_verified
- Risk factors: filesystem
- Quality score: 78
- Quality tier: bronze
- Public page: https://skillstore.pages.dev/skills/eis-its-backend-api
- Manifest: https://skillstore.pages.dev/api/skills/eis-its-backend-api/manifest

## Capabilities

- Guides creation and modification of backend API routes and controllers.
- Applies RESTful resource naming, URL structure, and API versioning practices.
- Supports HTTP method selection, status code handling, and response formatting.
- Covers query parameters for filtering, sorting, and pagination.
- Addresses API middleware for authentication, validation, rate limiting, and usage tracking.
- Helps prepare API documentation and OpenAPI or Swagger specifications.

## Use Cases

- Plan a New Resource Endpoint: Define routes, methods, request fields, response behavior, and status codes for a new backend resource.
- Standardize Existing Routes: Review route names, nesting, versioning, and query parameters for consistency across a service.
- Prepare API Documentation: Turn endpoint behavior into clear documentation for client teams and OpenAPI specifications.

## Prompt Templates

### Create Endpoint Plan

```
Design REST endpoints for a new resource named [resource]. Include routes, methods, status codes, and response behavior.
```

### Review Route Design

```
Review these API routes for REST consistency. Check naming, nesting, methods, query parameters, and versioning.
```

### Design Middleware Policy

```
Propose middleware for authentication, validation, rate limiting, and usage tracking for this API surface.
```

### Modernize API Contract

```
Refactor this API contract for consistent resources, pagination, error responses, status codes, and documentation updates.
```

## Limitations

- The packaged skill references a standards document outside its folder.
- It provides guidance, not runnable server code or generated tests.
- It is focused on REST and HTTP APIs, not GraphQL or event streams.
- It cannot verify production behavior without access to the target application.

## Best Practices

- Use resource nouns for URLs and reserve verbs for HTTP methods.
- Define status codes, error shapes, and pagination behavior before implementation.
- Document authentication, validation, rate limits, and response examples with each endpoint.

## Anti Patterns

- Do not mix action names into URLs when a resource model fits.
- Do not add nested routes that hide ownership or make authorization unclear.
- Do not ship endpoint changes without updating API documentation.

## Security Audit

- Audited at: 2026-07-09T13:59:54.069\+00:00
- Summary: One static finding was confirmed. SKILL.md instructs the agent to follow a relative link outside the skill directory, which creates an unsafe filesystem dependency. No evidence of prompt injection, network activity, command execution, or data exfiltration was found.

## Stats

- Views: 235
- Downloads: 15
- Favorites: 1
- Popularity score: 0