: Use industry standards like OAuth 2.0 or JWT (JSON Web Tokens) .
: Use tools like Joi or Zod to enforce data types, lengths, and formats (e.g., ensuring an email is actually an email).
: Limit the number of calls a single API key or IP address can make per minute/hour. API CheatSquad
To write a solid API feature that is secure, scalable, and easy to use, focus on these five core pillars: 1. Robust Input Validation & Sanitization
: Provide enough info for a developer to fix the issue without leaking sensitive system details (like stack traces). 4. Rate Limiting & Throttling : Use industry standards like OAuth 2
: Return a 429 Too Many Requests status to tell the client to slow down. 5. Clear Documentation & Versioning
Protect your system from being overwhelmed by too many requests, whether intentional (DDoS) or accidental (loops in client code). To write a solid API feature that is
: Prefix your routes (e.g., /v1/feature ) so you can update logic in the future without breaking existing integrations.