Fullstack Workflow

Complete guide for building features from API to UI, combining GET API routes, data fetching, form handling, and server actions.

Overview

When building a new feature, follow this pattern:

•GET API Route - For fetching data
•Server Action - For mutations (create/update/delete)
•Data Fetching - Using SWR on the client
•Form Handling - Using React Hook Form with Zod validation

1. GET API Route

For fetching data. Always wrap with withAuth or withEmailAccount:

typescript

// apps/web/app/api/user/example/route.ts
import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
import prisma from "@/utils/prisma";
import { withEmailAccount } from "@/utils/middleware";

// Auto-generate response type for client use
export type GetExampleResponse = Awaited<ReturnType<typeof getData>>;

export const GET = withEmailAccount(async (request) => {
  const { emailAccountId } = request.auth;
  
  const result = await getData({ emailAccountId });
  return NextResponse.json(result);
});

// We make this its own function so we can infer the return type for a type-safe response on the client
async function getData({ emailAccountId }: { emailAccountId: string }) {
  const items = await prisma.example.findMany({
    where: { emailAccountId },
  });

  return { items };
}

2. Server Action

For mutations. Use next-safe-action with proper validation:

Validation Schema (apps/web/utils/actions/example.validation.ts):

typescript

import { z } from "zod";

export const createExampleBody = z.object({
  name: z.string().min(1, "Name is required"),
  email: z.string().email("Invalid email"),
  description: z.string().optional(),
});
export type CreateExampleBody = z.infer<typeof createExampleBody>;

export const updateExampleBody = z.object({
  id: z.string(),
  name: z.string().optional(),
  email: z.string().email().optional(),
  description: z.string().optional(),
});
export type UpdateExampleBody = z.infer<typeof updateExampleBody>;

Server Action (apps/web/utils/actions/example.ts):

typescript

"use server";

import { actionClient } from "@/utils/actions/safe-action";
import { createExampleBody, updateExampleBody } from "@/utils/actions/example.validation";
import prisma from "@/utils/prisma";

export const createExampleAction = actionClient
  .metadata({ name: "createExample" })
  .inputSchema(createExampleBody)
  .action(async ({ 
    ctx: { emailAccountId }, 
    parsedInput: { name, email, description } 
  }) => {
    const example = await prisma.example.create({
      data: {
        name,
        email,
        description,
        emailAccountId,
      },
    });
    
    return example;
  });

export const updateExampleAction = actionClient
  .metadata({ name: "updateExample" })
  .inputSchema(updateExampleBody)
  .action(async ({ 
    ctx: { emailAccountId }, 
    parsedInput: { id, name, email, description } 
  }) => {
    const example = await prisma.example.update({
      where: { id, emailAccountId },
      data: { name, email, description },
    });
    
    return example;
  });

3. Data Fetching

Use SWR for client-side data fetching:

typescript

import useSWR from "swr";
import { GetExampleResponse } from "@/app/api/user/example/route";

export function useExamples() {
  return useSWR<GetExampleResponse>("/api/user/example");
}

4. Form Handling

Use React Hook Form with useAction from next-safe-action/hooks:

typescript

import { useCallback } from "react";
import { useForm, type SubmitHandler } from "react-hook-form";
import { useAction } from "next-safe-action/hooks";
import { zodResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/zod";
import { Input } from "@/components/Input";
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
import { toastSuccess, toastError } from "@/components/Toast";
import { getActionErrorMessage } from "@/utils/error";
import { createExampleAction } from "@/utils/actions/example";
import { createExampleBody, type CreateExampleBody } from "@/utils/actions/example.validation";

export function ExampleForm({ onSuccess }: { onSuccess?: () => void }) {
  const {
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors },
    reset,
  } = useForm<CreateExampleBody>({
    resolver: zodResolver(createExampleBody),
  });

  const { execute, isExecuting } = useAction(createExampleAction, {
    onSuccess: () => {
      toastSuccess({ description: "Example created!" });
      reset();
      onSuccess?.();
    },
    onError: (error) => {
      toastError({
        description: getActionErrorMessage(error.error),
      });
    },
  });

  return (
    <form className="space-y-4" onSubmit={handleSubmit(execute)}>
      <Input
        type="text"
        name="name"
        label="Name"
        registerProps={register("name")}
        error={errors.name}
      />
      <Input
        type="email"
        name="email"
        label="Email"
        registerProps={register("email")}
        error={errors.email}
      />
      <Input
        type="text"
        name="description"
        label="Description"
        registerProps={register("description")}
        error={errors.description}
      />
      <Button type="submit" loading={isExecuting}>
        Create Example
      </Button>
    </form>
  );
}

5. Complete Data Fetching Component

typescript

'use client';

import { useExamples } from "@/hooks/useExamples";
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
import { LoadingContent } from "@/components/LoadingContent";

export function Examples() {
  const { data, isLoading, error } = useExamples();

  return (
    <LoadingContent loading={isLoading} error={error}>
      <div className="grid gap-4">
        {data?.examples.map((example) => (
          <div key={example.id} className="border p-4 rounded">
            <h3 className="font-semibold">{example.name}</h3>
            <p className="text-gray-600">{example.email}</p>
            {example.description && (
              <p className="text-sm text-gray-500">{example.description}</p>
            )}
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </LoadingContent>
  );
}

Key Guidelines

Authentication & Authorization

•Use withAuth for user-level operations
•Use withEmailAccount for email-account-level operations
•Server actions automatically get the right context

Mutations

•Use server actions for all mutations (create/update/delete operations)
•Do NOT use POST API routes for mutations - use server actions instead

Error Handling

•Use useAction hook with onSuccess and onError callbacks
•Use getActionErrorMessage(error.error) from @/utils/error to extract user-friendly messages
•For prefix + error pattern: getActionErrorMessage(error.error, { prefix: "Failed to save" })
•next-safe-action provides centralized error handling with flattened validation errors
•No need for try/catch in GET routes when using middleware

Type Safety

•Export response types from GET routes
•Use Zod schemas for validation on both client and server
•Leverage TypeScript inference for better DX

Loading and Error States

•Use LoadingContent component to handle loading and error states consistently
•Pass loading, error, and children props to LoadingContent
•This provides a standardized way to show loading spinners and error messages

Performance

•Use SWR for efficient data fetching and caching
•Call mutate() after successful mutations to refresh data

File Organization

code

apps/web/
├── app/api/user/example/route.ts          # GET API route
├── utils/actions/example.validation.ts    # Zod schemas
├── utils/actions/example.ts               # Server actions
├── hooks/useExamples.ts                   # SWR hook
└── components/ExampleForm.tsx              # Form component

fullstack-workflow

Fullstack Workflow

Overview

1. GET API Route

2. Server Action

3. Data Fetching

4. Form Handling

5. Complete Data Fetching Component

Key Guidelines

Authentication & Authorization

Mutations

Error Handling

Type Safety

Loading and Error States

Performance

File Organization

Related Rules