# Introduction

# About

A config driven NodeJS framework implementing json:api and GraphQL. You define the resources, it provides the api.

# Motivation / Justification / Rationale

This framework solves the challenges of json:api and GraphQL without coupling us to any one ORM solution. Every other module out there is either tightly coupled to a database implementation, tracking an old version of the json:api spec, or is merely a helper library for a small feature. If you're building an API and your use case only involves reading and writing to a data store... well count yourself lucky. For everyone else, this framework provides the flexibility to provide a complex API without being confined to any one technology.

A config driven approach to building an API enables:

• Enforced json:api responses
• Automatic GraphQL schema generation
• Request validation
• Payload validation
• Automatic documentation generation
• Automatic inclusions
• Automatic routing
• Automatic handling of relationships

Ultimately, the only things you as a user of this framework need to care about are:

• What are my resources called
• What properties do my resources have
• For each resource, implement a handler for:
  • deleteing a resource
  • searching for many resources
  • finding a specific resource
  • createing a resource
  • updateing a specific resource

We've created handlers to automatically map our config over to database solutions help people get off the ground:

• jsonapi-store-memoryhandler - an in-memory data store to enable rapid prototyping. This ships as a part of jsonapi-server and powers the core test suite.
• jsonapi-handler-chain - a handler to chain custom behaviour around an existing handler. This ships as a part of jsonapi-server. More info can be found here
• jsonapi-store-relationaldb - using sequelize to support PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, MariaDB and SQLite.
• jsonapi-store-mongodb - for MongoDB.
• jsonapi-store-elasticsearch - for Elasticsearch.
• jsonapi-store-dynamodb - !SIGNIFICANT WIP! for AWS DynamoDB.

We've also written a library to ease the consumption of a json:api compliant service, if GraphQL isn't your thing:

• jsonapi-client - for NodeJS and Browsers