Mobile App API Endpoint Planner
Describe your app. Get a complete REST API plan — resources, endpoints, payloads, auth, and conventions — ready to hand to your backend.
Or skip the planning and build the app with RapidNativeTry an example
How to Design a REST API for Your App
Find Your Resources First
List the nouns your app manages — the things users create, read, update, and delete. Each becomes a resource, named as a plural noun like /users, /orders, or /messages. Resources, not actions, are the backbone of a RESTful API.
Map Operations to HTTP Methods
Use GET to read, POST to create, PUT or PATCH to update, and DELETE to remove. Keep the method semantic: a GET should never change data, and a DELETE should be idempotent. Use nested paths like /users/:id/orders to express relationships.
Version From Day One
Put a version prefix such as /v1 in every path. It costs nothing now and lets you ship breaking changes later as /v2 without forcing every client to update at once. Apps in the wild can lag behind for months.
Standardize Payloads and Errors
Pick one field-naming convention (camelCase is common) and use it everywhere. Define a single error response shape — a code, a message, and optional field-level details — so clients can handle failures generically instead of special-casing each endpoint.
Plan Auth and Pagination Early
Decide on JWT bearer tokens with refresh, and a single pagination strategy (cursor or page/limit) before you build. Retrofitting auth or changing how lists paginate after launch touches nearly every endpoint and screen.
HTTP Methods & Status Codes
Use methods and status codes consistently so clients can handle responses predictably.
| Method | Use For | Body? |
|---|---|---|
| GET | Retrieve a resource or list | No |
| POST | Create a new resource | Yes |
| PUT | Fully replace a resource | Yes |
| PATCH | Partially update a resource | Yes |
| DELETE | Remove a resource | No |
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 200 OK | Successful read or update |
| 201 Created | A POST created a new resource |
| 204 No Content | Successful delete, no response body |
| 400 Bad Request | Invalid or malformed input |
| 401 Unauthorized | Missing or invalid authentication |
| 403 Forbidden | Authenticated but not allowed |
| 404 Not Found | The resource does not exist |
| 409 Conflict | Duplicate or conflicting write |
| 429 Too Many Requests | Rate limit exceeded |
REST API Best Practices
Use nouns for paths, verbs for methods
A path names a thing (/orders/:id), the method says what to do with it. Avoid action paths like /createOrder or /getUser — the HTTP method already carries that meaning.
Return consistent, predictable shapes
A list endpoint should always return the same envelope, a single resource the same object. Stable shapes let clients write generic parsing and caching instead of per-endpoint logic.
Paginate every list endpoint
Never return an unbounded list. Pick cursor-based or page/limit pagination and apply it consistently. Include the total or a next-cursor so clients know when to stop.
Validate input on the server
Never trust the client. Validate every field server-side, return 400 or 422 with clear messages, and reject unknown fields. Client checks are for UX; server checks are for safety.
Secure everything with HTTPS and scoped tokens
Require HTTPS, short-lived access tokens, and authorization checks that confirm the user owns the resource — not just that they are logged in. Rate-limit public and auth endpoints.
Document with examples
Every endpoint needs an example request and response. A spec without examples gets misread. Tools like OpenAPI/Swagger keep docs in sync with the contract.