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openapi-stack is a collection of open source libraries and tools for
full stack software development using OpenAPI specification.

The goal is to unlock great developer experience and full stack type
safety for software teams using REST; inspired by tools like GraphQL
and tRPC.

How does openapi-stack compare to GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language for APIs developed by Facebook. It gives
API clients full control over the data they query, making it
extremely flexible and efficient for client-centric use cases.

Similar to OpenAPI specification, GraphQL APIs define a strongly
typed schema for the data and mutations they support which makes them
discoverable and intuitive to develop against.

OpenAPI stack achieves the same type safety and great developer
experience by using the OpenAPI specification as a single source of
truth for the API contract, used to generate types for both client
and server side and utilising it for routing and validation during
runtime.

Both GraphQL and openapi-stack encourage an API First approach where
the API contract is treated as a first class citizen in software
design instead of treating it as merely documentation.

While REST APIs don't generally provide the same level of control to
clients as GraphQL, many times this could be seen as a benefit
especially in scenarios where strict control over data access and
operations is crucial.

Many organizations choose REST over GraphQL due to more established
conventions, simplicity, and the ability to leverage standard HTTP
features directly. Widespread knowledge around REST contribute to its
choice among organizations looking for a tried-and-tested approach to
building APIs.

How does openapi-stack compare to tRPC?

tRPC is a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) library for Typescript to build
and consume typesafe APIs.

Designed for full-stack Typescript applications, tRPC allows direct
sharing of types between both the client and server, without relying
on code generation.

Unlike GraphQL and REST, tRPC doesn't expose a standard
machine-readable API schema to be consumed by clients, instead taking
a more straightforward approach of exposing endpoints or procedures,
essentially "just functions" invoked by the client to the server.

OpenAPI stack achieves type safety using a similar workflow to tRPC's
procedures with OpenAPI operations, also avoiding code generation by
only generating types from OpenAPI spec and using the machine
readable contract in the runtime for routing and validation.

While the lightweight tRPC approach is optimal for teams just looking
to build full stack applications, teams looking to build robust APIs
are better served by the API design first approach of openapi-stack
or GraphQL.

Benefits 

 1. Single source of truth for your API contract. No more manually
    updating your OpenAPI specs to keep up with your backend code.
    Always keep your API documentation and SDKs up to date!
 2. Type safety and validation. Build your product faster and with a
    better developer experience using strongly typed Typescript and
    runtime validation both in the server and client side.
 3. Testing & Collaboration. Leverage API mocks to make testing and
    development easier and iterate fast on your API design as you
    build your app's interface. Being blocked by the backend team is
    a thing of the past!

Backend 

Build, Validate, Route, Authenticate, and Mock your backend using the
openapi-backend library.

Quickstart - NPM

Client 

Easily consume your API using the typesafe openapi-client-axios
library.

Quickstart - NPM

CLI 

Generate types, design and test your API using the openapicmd command
line tool.

Quickstart - NPM

Features 

  * [*]  Battle-tested in production. High test coverage.
  * [*]  Built with TypeScript, types included with full
    autocomplete support
  * [*]  Framework agnostic - works with your stack
  * [*]  Lightweight - small frontend bundle + optimized for
    serverless cold starts
  * [*] [?] No code generation - we only generate types
  * [*] [?] OpenAPI 3.x support
  * [*]  Samples included

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Why API First?

  * Benefits
  * Backend
  * Client
  * CLI
  * Features

Docs

  * Why API First?
  * Examples
  * Generating Types
  * Backend Reference

Libraries

  * openapi-backend
  * openapi-client-axios
  * openapicmd

Links

  * OpenAPI Initiative
  * GitHub Sponsors
  * Open Collective
  * Buy me a coffee

OpenAPI Stack is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) licensed under
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