ficus

An extremely simple set of utilities for building service-based APIs in ExpressJS.

The Basics

Install

npm install --save ficus

import {
    // utility functions
    handle,
    wrap,

    // errors
    AppError,
    HttpError,
    NotFoundError,
    ForbiddenError,
    InternalServerError,
    UnauthorizedError,
    BadRequestError,
    ConflictError
} from 'ficus';

Usage

Ficus is focused on building service-based APIs. Instead of writing routes, you write services. Service methods can be composed and reused from other services. Service methods also export as very simply functions, allowing easy testing and a scalable API. To accomplish this, ficus has two utility functions: handle and wrap.

handle(opts)

The handle function's main purpose is to map a request object against a schema, run it through a handler function, and then pass the result back through a response schema. This enforces a tight contract for your service methods.

@param opts {object}

• reqSchema: Joi schema representing the form of the request object
• resSchema: Joi schema representing the form of the response object
• handler(reqData, ctx): Service handler
  • reqData: The request data validated and sanitized through reqSchema
  • ctx: Object of form {req, res} that allows access to original request values (if present)

@returns Promise Promise will resolve with final value after the req -> handle -> res process.

Example

import {handle} from 'ficus';
 
const getUsers = handle({
    reqSchema: Joi.object().keys({
        query: Joi.string().required()
        offset: Joi.number().default(0),
        limit: Joi.number().default(10)
    }),
    resSchema: Joi.object().keys({
        users: Joi.array().items(Joi.string()).required()
    }),
    handle({query, offset, limit}) {
        // Some ORM call
        return User
            .find(query)
            .limit(limit)
            .offset(offset)
            .then(users => users.map(u => u.name));
    }
});
 
// Good service call
getUsers({
    query: 'ficus'
})
.then(({users}) => {
     // users => ['ficus', 'ficus tree', 'ficus plant']
});
 
// Bad sevice call
getUsers({})
    .catch(err => {
        // err => Bad Request Error, 'query' is required
    });

As you can see, with just a little bit of prep work we can have strict and simple service methods. Its easy to compose service methods from other services as they are just simple method calls with a request object and Promise result.

However, what really makes these service methods useful is linking them with your routes. That's where wrap() comes in.

wrap(handler)

The wrap() function takes a service method generated by handle() as an argument, and returns a fully qualified Express route handler. It does this by combing the req.params, req.body, and req.query objects into one object, and using it as the request data for handle().

@param handler {func}

@returns {func} (req, res, next) Express route handler

Example

import {wrap} from 'ficus';
 
// from `handle()` example above
import {getUsers} from './services/user';
 
app.get('/users/:query?', wrap(getUsers));
 
// GET /users?query=ficus
// RESPONSE { users: ['ficus', 'ficus tree', 'ficus plant'] }
 
// GET /users/ficus
// RESPONSE { users: ['ficus', 'ficus tree', 'ficus plant'] }

Errors

There are some handy Http Errors available for you as part of Ficus. They provide quick and semantic ways to "error out" in your service handlers. It is also very easy to extend these errors to add your own. Take a look at the available errors and how to extend them here.

For example:

import {
  handle,
  ForbiddenError
} from 'ficus';
 
handle({
  reqSchema: Joi.any(),
  resSchema: Joi.any(),
  handler(reqData, ctx) {
    if (!ctx.req.session.isAdmin) {
      throw new ForbiddenError('You must be an admin to do that');
    }
  }
})

Frequent Questions

How do I get to session variables?

Use the context object (second argument of handle()):

handle({
  reqSchema: Joi.any(),
  resSchema: Joi.any(),
  handler(reqData, ctx) {
    // ctx.req.session => Your session data
  }
})

How do I change the response code from 200?

Access the response on the context object before returning:

handle({
  reqSchema: Joi.any(),
  resSchema: Joi.any(),
  handler(reqData, ctx) {
    ctx.res.status(401);
    return {
      hello: 'world'
    };
  }
})

How do I make good use of the errors in Express?

A simple formula for bootstrapping your Express app:

import {
  NotFoundError,
  HttpError,
  InternalServerError
} from 'ficus';
 
// ...
 
// Routes
 
// ...
 
// Not Found Handler
app.use(function(req, res, next) {
  next(
    new NotFoundError(`Route: ${req.url}`)
  );
});
 
// Error handler
app.use(function(err, req, res, next) {
  if (!(err instanceof HttpError)) {
    console.error(err.stack); // or some logger
    err = new InternalServerError();
  }
 
  res.status(err.status).json(err.toObject());
});