Code Your Backend in VS Code: Two-Way Sync with the Local Client

Intro

0:00 The panel is not the only place to write code. The local client keeps a folder on your computer and API Maker in step, both ways, in VS Code, WebStorm or any editor, with the types of your tables in it.

Your own editor, the usual way

0:14 Working in your own editor usually means copying code between the browser and your files, a local setup that never quite matches the server, no types for the rows of your databases, and an editor that does not know the platform. With API Maker, a clone of the repository of the account and one command are enough. A save on either side lands on the other in a second, every table and every call of g is typed, in the editor you like.

0:42 In this video : a sync token, the folder, the code in VS Code, a change from the editor, a change from the panel, and what happens offline.

A sync token

0:52 In the user menu, Local Client Sync Token. Generate, and confirm : the token is shown this once, so it is blurred here. Copy it. The dialog says what comes next : a clone of the Git repository of the account, a config file with the token, then npm install once, and npm run start.

The folder

1:14 Clone the repository, write the config file, install the declarations of Node.js for the editor, and start the local client : it connects, and writes every file of the account. From now on, it watches both sides. The folder is the repository : am-types for the types of API Maker, src for the account, and the project files of every language. In src : the custom APIs, one folder each, with the code, its settings and its docs ; and next to them the schemas, the instances, the groups and the security report.

The code in VS Code

1:50 Cart Quote, in VS Code. g is typed : the query of products answers the rows of the schema of products, with its columns, and the docs of the call. The editor knows the platform, and the tables.

A change from the editor

2:04 Marketing wants free shipping from one hundred and twenty. One hundred and twenty. Save : the local client sends the file, and API Maker saves Cart Quote. In the panel, Cart Quote, its code : one hundred and twenty, already.

A change from the panel

2:22 And the other way. The shipping fee becomes seven point nine, saved in the panel. The local client writes the file, and VS Code shows it : seven point nine. Nobody copied anything.

Offline, and merged

2:36 Work done while the client was stopped is merged when it starts : the newer change of a file wins, and what it replaces is kept in dot local client slash backups. The config file with its token, node modules and coverage never go to git.

Built on standards

2:52 The folder is the repository of the account : what you see is what is reviewed and pulled on every server. Every account has the same layout, so a person or an AI assistant finds their way. And npm run test runs the tests from the same folder.

Recap

3:09 To sum up. A sync token, a clone and npm run start. A save on either side lands on the other. Every table and every call of g typed in your editor. Offline work merged, nothing lost. Next : API Maker and AI, in the same folder. API Maker. Build faster, spend smarter, deliver better.