Resora

Resora is a structured API response layer for Node.js and TypeScript backends.

It provides a clean, explicit way to transform data into consistent JSON responses and automatically send them to the client. Resora supports single resources, collections, and pagination metadata while remaining framework-agnostic and strongly typed.

Resora is designed for teams that care about long-term maintainability, predictable API contracts, and clean separation of concerns.

What Problem Does Resora Solve?

In most Node.js backends:

• Controllers shape JSON directly
• Response formats drift over time
• Pagination logic is duplicated
• Metadata handling is inconsistent

Resora introduces a dedicated response transformation layer that removes these concerns from controllers and centralizes response structure in one place.

Core Capabilities

• Explicit data-to-response transformation
• Automatic JSON response dispatch
• First-class collection support
• Built-in pagination metadata handling
• Predictable and consistent response contracts
• Strong TypeScript typing
• Transport-layer friendly (Express, H3, and others)

Basic Example

Single Resource

import { Resource } from 'resora';

class UserResource extends Resource {
  data() {
    return this.toArray();
  }
}

return new UserResource(user).additional({
  status: 'success',
  message: 'User retrieved',
});

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "John"
  },
  "status": "success",
  "message": "User retrieved"
}

Collection with Pagination

import { ResourceCollection } from 'resora';

class UserCollection<R extends User[]> extends ResourceCollection<R> {
  collects = UserResource;

  data() {
    return this.toArray();
  }
}

return new UserCollection({
  data: users,
  pagination: {
    from: 1,
    to: 10,
    perPage: 10,
    total: 100,
  },
}).additional({
  status: 'success',
  message: 'Users retrieved',
});

Response:

{
  "data": [...],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "from": 1,
      "to": 10,
      "perPage": 10,
      "total": 100
    }
  },
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Users retrieved"
}

Architectural Positioning

Resora sits between your application logic and the HTTP layer.

• Controllers handle request flow
• Services handle business logic
• Resora handles response structure

This separation ensures:

• Stable API contracts
• Minimal controller logic
• Clear ownership of response shape

Design Principles

• Explicit over implicit behavior
• Separation of concerns
• Minimal abstraction cost
• Strong typing as a first-class feature
• Framework independence

Framework Compatibility

Resora is not tied to a specific HTTP framework.

It works with:

• Express
• H3
• Any application or framework that supports Connect-style middleware

Adapters can be added without changing application logic.

When to Use Resora

Resora is a good fit if you:

• Build APIs with long-term maintenance in mind
• Care about response consistency across teams
• Want pagination and metadata handled once
• Prefer explicit structure over ad-hoc JSON responses

It is intentionally not opinionated about routing, validation, or persistence.

License

MIT