backend-dev-guidelines

Layered architecture separates routes, controllers, services, and repositories into distinct concerns. This Skill enforces a standardized pattern where routes handle HTTP requests, controllers orchestrate logic, services contain business rules, and repositories manage data access via Prisma, improving testability and maintainability across your microservices.

Zod validation ensures type-safe input handling at the route or controller layer. This Skill integrates Zod schemas to parse and validate incoming request payloads before they reach business logic, catching runtime errors early and providing clear error messages to API clients.

Yes, Sentry integrates seamlessly with Node.js/Express backends to capture exceptions, performance issues, and runtime errors automatically. This Skill implements centralized error handling with Sentry, ensuring all errors are tracked, logged with context, and surfaced for debugging without manual instrumentation.

Controllers should delegate business logic to services and data access to repositories following dependency injection patterns. This Skill provides BaseController and standardized service patterns that enforce consistent organization across routes, controllers, services, and repositories, making TypeScript code predictable and reusable.

Type-safe configuration via unifiedConfig eliminates environment variable errors and inconsistencies. This Skill centralizes configuration management, validates it at startup with TypeScript types, and distributes it safely across services, preventing runtime failures from misconfigured deployments.

Apply these guidelines when migrating legacy patterns, adding new API endpoints, or scaling microservices. This Skill handles both new features and migrations from inconsistent implementations, ensuring consistent error handling, validation, data access, and monitoring across your codebase regardless of starting point.