🚀 Strapi Custom API Builder Plugin

Bringing the power of Drupal Views to Strapi - Build custom APIs visually, without writing a single line of code!

🌟 Vision

Remember the power and flexibility of Drupal Views? The ability to create complex, filtered, and sorted data presentations through a visual interface? This plugin brings that same revolutionary approach to Strapi.

Just as Drupal Views transformed how developers and content managers create data displays in Drupal, the Strapi Custom API Builder empowers you to:

• 🎨 Visually design APIs through an intuitive interface
• 🔍 Apply complex filters without writing query logic
• 📊 Sort and paginate data with simple selections
• 🔗 Handle relationships elegantly and automatically
• ⚡ Generate production-ready endpoints instantly
• 🛡️ Maintain security with built-in validation and sanitization

No more manually writing controllers, routes, or query builders. Focus on what data you want to expose, and let the plugin handle the rest.

📖 Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Quick Start Guide
• Step-by-Step Tutorial
• API Features
• Advanced Usage
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License

✨ Features

Core Capabilities

• ✅ Visual API Builder - Point-and-click interface for creating custom endpoints
• ✅ Smart Field Selection - Choose exactly which fields to expose
• ✅ Relationship Management - Automatically handle complex data relationships
• ✅ Advanced Filtering - 16+ filter operators ($eq, $contains, $gte, etc.)
• ✅ Multi-field Sorting - Sort by multiple fields with various formats
• ✅ Flexible Pagination - Page-based and offset-based pagination support
• ✅ Query Visualization - See your API structure before deployment
• ✅ Auto-generated Documentation - Each API comes with filter documentation
• ✅ Schema Validation - Gracefully handles content type changes
• ✅ Production Ready - Optimized queries with proper sanitization

What Makes It Special?

• 🎯 No Code Required - Build complex APIs without writing controllers
• 🔄 Live Preview - See example queries and responses in real-time
• 🛡️ Security First - Built-in validation and sanitization
• 📈 Scalable - Handles large datasets with intelligent pagination
• 🔧 Maintainable - Changes to content types are handled gracefully

⚙️ Versions

• Strapi v5 - (current) - v2.x
• Strapi v4 - (legacy) - v1.x

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Strapi v5.0.0 or higher
• Node.js 18.x or 20.x
• npm or yarn package manager

Step 1: Install Strapi (if you haven't already)

# Create a new Strapi project using npx (recommended)
npx create-strapi@latest my-project --quickstart --skip-cloud

# The command will prompt you - answer 'N' to skip anonymous telemetry
# Then it will install dependencies and set up your project

# Navigate to your project once installation is complete
cd my-project

Note: The --quickstart flag creates a project with SQLite database for quick setup. The --skip-cloud flag skips the Strapi Cloud setup prompts.

Step 2: Install the Custom API Builder Plugin

# Using npm
npm install strapi-plugin-custom-api

# Or using yarn
yarn add strapi-plugin-custom-api

Step 3: Install Required Dependencies

IMPORTANT: You must also install these UI dependencies for Strapi v5:

npm install @strapi/design-system @strapi/icons

# Or using yarn
yarn add @strapi/design-system @strapi/icons

Step 4: Configure the Plugin

Create or update config/plugins.js:

module.exports = {
  'custom-api': {
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      // Add any custom configuration here
    }
  }
};

Step 5: Rebuild and Start Strapi

# Rebuild the admin panel
npm run build

# Start Strapi in development mode  
npm run develop

# Or with npx (if strapi command is not available)
npx strapi develop

The server will start and open your browser to http://localhost:1337/admin where you'll need to create your first admin user.

🚀 Quick Start Guide

1. Access the Plugin

After starting Strapi, navigate to your admin panel (typically http://localhost:1337/admin). You'll find "Custom Api Builder" in the left sidebar menu.

2. Create Your First Custom API

1. Click on "Custom Api Builder" in the sidebar
2. Click the "Create new API" button
3. Fill in the basic information:
   • Name: Give your API a descriptive name (e.g., "Product Catalog")
   • Slug: This will be auto-generated (e.g., "product-catalog")
   • Content Type: Select the content type to query

3. Select Fields

Choose which fields to include in your API response:

• ✅ Check the fields you want to expose
• 🔍 Use the search bar to find specific fields quickly
• 🏷️ Filter by field type using the type badges

4. Configure Features

Enable the features you need:

• Filtering: Allow clients to filter results
• Sorting: Enable result ordering
• Pagination: Add pagination support

5. Save and Test

1. Click "Save" to create your API
2. Your endpoint is immediately available at:

   GET /api/custom-api/your-slug
   

📚 Step-by-Step Tutorial

Creating a Product Catalog API

Let's build a real-world example: a product catalog API with filtering, sorting, and pagination.

Step 1: Set Up Your Content Type

First, ensure you have a Product content type with these fields:

• name (Text)
• description (Rich Text)
• price (Number)
• category (Relation to Category)
• inStock (Boolean)
• featured (Boolean)

Step 2: Create the Custom API

1. Navigate to Custom Api Builder
2. Click "Create new API"
3. Enter:
   • Name: "Product Catalog API"
   • Slug: Will auto-generate as "product-catalog-api"
   • Content Type: Select "Product"

Step 3: Select Fields

Check the following fields:

• ✅ name
• ✅ description
• ✅ price
• ✅ category
• ✅ inStock
• ✅ featured

Step 4: Configure Relationships

For the category relationship:

• Select which category fields to include (e.g., name, slug)
• The plugin automatically handles the join queries

Step 5: Enable Features

• ✅ Enable Filtering
• ✅ Enable Sorting
• ✅ Enable Pagination

Step 6: Save and Use Your API

Your API is now available! Here are example queries:

# Get all products
GET /api/custom-api/product-catalog-api

# Filter by price range
GET /api/custom-api/product-catalog-api?price[$gte]=10&price[$lte]=100

# Filter by category and stock
GET /api/custom-api/product-catalog-api?category.name=Electronics&inStock=true

# Sort by price (ascending) and name (descending)
GET /api/custom-api/product-catalog-api?sort=price,-name

# Paginate results
GET /api/custom-api/product-catalog-api?page=2&pageSize=20

# Combine everything
GET /api/custom-api/product-catalog-api?featured=true&price[$lte]=50&sort=-createdAt&page=1&pageSize=10

🔧 API Features

Filtering

The plugin supports 16 filter operators:

Operator	Description	Example
$eq	Equals	?name[$eq]=iPhone
$ne	Not equals	?status[$ne]=draft
$contains	Contains substring	?title[$contains]=guide
$notContains	Doesn't contain	?title[$notContains]=draft
$in	In array	?category[$in]=tech,mobile
$notIn	Not in array	?status[$notIn]=draft,archived
$lt	Less than	?price[$lt]=100
$lte	Less than or equal	?price[$lte]=100
$gt	Greater than	?views[$gt]=1000
$gte	Greater than or equal	?rating[$gte]=4
$between	Between two values	?price[$between]=10,100
$startsWith	Starts with	?title[$startsWith]=How
$endsWith	Ends with	?email[$endsWith]=@gmail.com
$null	Is null	?deletedAt[$null]=true
$notNull	Is not null	?publishedAt[$notNull]=true
$or	OR condition	?$or[0][name]=iPhone&$or[1][name]=Samsung

Sorting

Multiple sorting formats are supported:

# Comma-separated
?sort=price,-createdAt

# Array format
?sort[]=price&sort[]=-createdAt

# Object format
?sort[price]=asc&sort[createdAt]=desc

# With symbols
?sort=+price,-createdAt

Pagination

Two pagination styles:

# Page-based (recommended)
?page=2&pageSize=20

# Offset-based
?offset=20&limit=20

Response includes metadata:

{
  "data": [...],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "page": 2,
      "pageSize": 20,
      "total": 150,
      "pageCount": 8
    }
  }
}

Filter Documentation Endpoint

Each API automatically gets a documentation endpoint:

GET /api/custom-api/your-slug/filters

Returns available filters, operators, and examples specific to your API.

🎯 Advanced Usage

Working with Relationships

The plugin intelligently handles relationships:

// One-to-Many: Returns array
{
  "product": {
    "name": "iPhone",
    "categories": [
      { "id": 1, "name": "Electronics" },
      { "id": 2, "name": "Mobile" }
    ]
  }
}

// Many-to-One: Returns single object
{
  "product": {
    "name": "iPhone",
    "manufacturer": { "id": 1, "name": "Apple" }
  }
}

Complex Filtering Examples

# Products in multiple categories with price range
?category.slug[$in]=electronics,computers&price[$between]=100,500

# Featured products or products with high ratings
?$or[0][featured]=true&$or[1][rating][$gte]=4.5

# Products without images
?images[$null]=true

# Recent products in stock
?inStock=true&createdAt[$gte]=2024-01-01

JavaScript/TypeScript Integration

// Using fetch
const response = await fetch('/api/custom-api/product-catalog-api?' + new URLSearchParams({
  'category.slug': 'electronics',
  'price[$lte]': '500',
  'sort': '-rating',
  'page': '1',
  'pageSize': '20'
}));

const { data, meta } = await response.json();

// Using axios
const { data } = await axios.get('/api/custom-api/product-catalog-api', {
  params: {
    'featured': true,
    'price[$between]': '10,100',
    'sort': ['price', '-createdAt'],
    'page': 1,
    'pageSize': 20
  }
});

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues and Solutions

1. Plugin Not Appearing in Admin Panel

Solution: Rebuild the admin panel

npm run build
npm run develop

# Or if the strapi command is not found:
npx strapi build
npx strapi develop

2. "No content types available" Message

Solution: Create at least one content type in your Strapi project first.

3. API Returns 404

Possible causes:

• The slug might be incorrect
• The API might not be published
• Check the exact endpoint: /api/custom-api/your-slug

4. Filters Not Working

Check:

• Field names are correct (case-sensitive)
• Operators are properly formatted (e.g., [$contains])
• Fields are included in the API configuration

5. Performance Issues with Large Datasets

Optimize by:

• Using pagination (pageSize parameter)
• Adding database indexes on filtered fields
• Limiting the number of fields returned
• Using specific filters to reduce dataset size

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging in your Strapi configuration:

// config/server.js
module.exports = {
  // ... other config
  logger: {
    level: 'debug',
  }
};

Common Strapi v5 Installation Issues

"strapi: command not found"

Solution: Use npx to run Strapi commands

# Instead of: strapi develop
npx strapi develop

# Instead of: strapi build  
npx strapi build

Missing Dependencies Error

Solution: Ensure all required dependencies are installed

# Clean install
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

# Install missing UI dependencies
npm install @strapi/design-system @strapi/icons

Port Already in Use

Solution: Strapi runs on port 1337 by default

# Kill process on port 1337
lsof -ti:1337 | xargs kill -9

# Or run on different port
PORT=8080 npm run develop

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/vivmagarwal/strapi-plugin-custom-api-builder.git

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run tests
npm test

# Link for local development
npm link

# In your Strapi project
npm link strapi-plugin-custom-api

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the legendary Drupal Views module
• Built for the amazing Strapi community
• Special thanks to all contributors
• @vivmagarwal - Original author
• @cjboco - Contributor

📮 Support

• 📧 Email: vivmagarwal@gmail.com
• 🐛 Issues: GitHub Issues
• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions

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Made with ❤️ by Vivek M. Agarwal

Bringing the power of visual API building to Strapi, one endpoint at a time.