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apitype

Generate TypeScript types, Zod schemas, TypeBox, and JSON Schema from any API endpoint or JSON — instantly.

apitype demo

Zero config. No OpenAPI spec needed. Works as a CLI, MCP server for AI assistants, Vite plugin, and GitHub Action.

npm version npm downloads CI License: MIT


Why apitype?

Every developer writing API integrations writes the same boilerplate: copy a JSON response, manually type every field, figure out which are nullable, which are optional, what format that date string is.

apitype eliminates all of that. Point it at any URL — it fetches the response, infers every field's type and format, and outputs production-ready code.

Before:  20 minutes of manual typing + guessing nullable fields
After:   npx @jayeshbansal/apitype <url>   →  3 seconds

And in 2026, when your team uses AI coding assistants daily — apitype is the tool those assistants call under the hood.


Related MCP server: Component Library MCP Server

Features

  • 4 output formats — Zod, TypeBox, TypeScript-only, JSON Schema

  • Smart format detection — 14 patterns: UUID, email, URL, datetime, IP, JWT, CUID, NanoID, base64, semver, hex-color, and more

  • Multi-sample inference — fetch a URL multiple times to detect nullable and optional fields accurately

  • Batch mode — define all your endpoints in a config file, generate everything with one command

  • Watch mode — re-generate automatically when config or files change

  • Typed fetch wrapper — generates a production-ready async function fetchX() alongside the schema

  • MCP server — AI assistants like Claude and Cursor call apitype as a tool directly

  • Vite plugin — types regenerated at dev server start, zero workflow change

  • GitHub Action — keep types in sync in CI, fail if they drift

  • ENV var interpolation — use ${API_KEY} in config headers, never hardcode secrets

  • Programmatic APIimport { fromUrl, fromJson } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype'

  • Zero library deps — Chalk and Ora are CLI-only; the library ships with no runtime dependencies


Install

# One-off use (no install)
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype <url|file>

# Global install
npm install -g @jayeshbansal/apitype

# Dev dependency (for programmatic use or Vite plugin)
npm install -D @jayeshbansal/apitype

CLI

Single endpoint

# From a URL
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.github.com/users/octocat

# Custom name
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.github.com/users/octocat --name GithubUser

# TypeBox format
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.example.com/products/1 --format typebox --name Product

# With auth header + typed fetch wrapper + write to file
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.example.com/me \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  --name CurrentUser \
  --fetch \
  --out src/types/me.ts

# Sample 5 times for accurate nullable/optional detection
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.example.com/posts/random --name Post --samples 5

# From a local JSON file
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype response.json --name ApiResponse --out src/types/api.ts

# From stdin
curl -s https://api.github.com/users/octocat | npx @jayeshbansal/apitype --name GithubUser

Batch mode

Create apitype.config.json:

{
  "endpoints": [
    {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
      "name": "GithubUser",
      "out": "src/types/github.ts"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers",
      "name": "StripeCustomer",
      "out": "src/types/stripe.ts",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${STRIPE_SECRET_KEY}" }
    },
    {
      "url": "https://api.example.com/products/1",
      "name": "Product",
      "out": "src/types/product.ts",
      "format": "typebox",
      "fetchWrapper": true,
      "samples": 3
    }
  ],
  "defaults": {
    "format": "zod",
    "fetchWrapper": false
  }
}

Then run:

npx @jayeshbansal/apitype                          # auto-detects apitype.config.json
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype --config my-config.json  # explicit path
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype --config apitype.config.json --watch  # re-run on changes

All flags

Flag

Alias

Description

Default

--name

-n

Schema name (PascalCase)

Schema

--format

-f

zod | typebox | typescript | jsonschema

zod

--out

-o

Write output to file

stdout

--fetch

Include typed fetch wrapper

--samples

-s

Fetch URL N times

1

--header

-H

Add request header (repeatable)

--timeout

Fetch timeout in ms

10000

--config

-c

Batch config file

auto-detect

--watch

-w

Re-run on config/file changes

--mcp

Start MCP server for AI assistants

--version

-v

Print version

--help

-h

Show help


MCP Server (for AI assistants)

apitype ships as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server — the standard protocol used by Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and other AI coding assistants to call external tools.

Once configured, your AI assistant can generate types without you lifting a finger:

"Generate Zod types for our products endpoint" → Claude calls apitype.generate_from_url → types appear in your file

Setup

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apitype": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["apitype", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json in your project or ~/.cursor/mcp.json globally):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apitype": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["apitype@latest", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf / other MCP clients — same pattern, command: npx, args: ["apitype", "--mcp"].

Available MCP tools

Tool

Description

generate_from_url

Fetch a URL and generate types

generate_from_json

Generate types from a JSON string

generate_from_multiple_samples

Merge multiple JSON samples for accurate nullable inference

All tools accept name, format (zod/typebox/typescript/jsonschema), and fetchWrapper options.


Vite Plugin

npm install -D @jayeshbansal/apitype
// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import { apitype } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype/vite'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    apitype({
      endpoints: [
        {
          url: 'https://api.example.com/users/1',
          name: 'User',
          out: 'src/types/user.ts',
        },
        {
          url: 'https://api.example.com/products',
          name: 'ProductList',
          out: 'src/types/products.ts',
          format: 'typebox',
          fetchWrapper: true,
        },
      ],
      defaults: { format: 'zod' },
    }),
  ],
})

Types are generated at vite dev startup and vite build — no manual step required.

Options:

  • skipIfExists: true — only generate if the output file doesn't exist yet (fast re-runs)

  • verbose: false — silence the generation log


GitHub Action

Add to .github/workflows/sync-types.yml:

name: Sync API Types

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * *'   # daily at 6am
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Generate types from API endpoints
        uses: jayesh-bansal/apitype@v1
        with:
          config: apitype.config.json
          fail-on-diff: 'true'
        env:
          STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY }}

Inputs:

Input

Description

Default

config

Path to config file

apitype.config.json

version

apitype version to use

latest

fail-on-diff

Fail if generated types differ from committed

true

commit-changes

Auto-commit updated types

false

commit-message

Commit message when auto-committing

chore: sync api types [skip ci]


Programmatic API

npm install @jayeshbansal/apitype

fromUrl(url, options?)

import { fromUrl } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype'

const result = await fromUrl('https://api.github.com/users/octocat', {
  name: 'GithubUser',
  format: 'zod',         // 'zod' | 'typebox' | 'typescript' | 'jsonschema'
  fetchWrapper: true,    // generate a typed fetch() wrapper
  samples: 3,            // fetch 3× for better nullable/optional detection
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer token' },
  timeout: 15_000,
})

console.log(result.combined)  // full file content
// result.format → 'zod'

fromJson(data, options?)

import { fromJson } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype'

const result = fromJson(
  { id: '550e8400-...', name: 'Alice', bio: 'Developer' },
  {
    name: 'User',
    format: 'zod',
    // Pass multiple samples for accurate nullable/optional detection
    samples: [
      { id: '...', name: 'Bob' },            // bio missing → optional
      { id: '...', name: 'Carol', bio: null }, // bio null → nullable
    ],
  }
)
// bio: z.string().nullable().optional()

fromString(json, options?)

import { fromString } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype'

const result = fromString('{"hello":"world"}', { name: 'Greeting' })

Batch processing

import { loadConfig, runBatch } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype'

const config = await loadConfig('apitype.config.json')
const results = await runBatch(config, {
  onProgress: (ep, i, total) => console.log(`[${i}/${total}] ${ep.name}`),
  onDone: (r) => console.log(`✓ ${r.outPath}`),
  onError: (ep, err) => console.error(`✗ ${ep.name}: ${err.message}`),
})

defineConfig for type-safe config files

// apitype.config.js
import { defineConfig } from '@jayeshbansal/apitype'

export default defineConfig({
  endpoints: [
    {
      url: 'https://api.github.com/users/octocat',
      name: 'GithubUser',
      out: 'src/types/github.ts',
    },
  ],
  defaults: { format: 'zod' },
})

Detected formats

Input

Zod

TypeBox

JSON Schema

UUID v4

z.string().uuid()

Type.String({ format: 'uuid' })

"format": "uuid"

CUID

z.string().cuid()

Type.String({ pattern: ... })

"type": "string"

Nano ID

z.string().nanoid()

Type.String({ minLength: 21 })

"type": "string"

Email

z.string().email()

Type.String({ format: 'email' })

"format": "email"

URL

z.string().url()

Type.String({ format: 'uri' })

"format": "uri"

ISO datetime

z.string().datetime()

Type.String({ format: 'date-time' })

"format": "date-time"

ISO date

z.string().date()

Type.String({ format: 'date' })

"format": "date"

ISO time

z.string().time()

Type.String({ format: 'time' })

"format": "time"

IPv4

z.string().ip({ version: "v4" })

Type.String({ format: 'ipv4' })

"format": "ipv4"

IPv6

z.string().ip({ version: "v6" })

Type.String({ format: 'ipv6' })

"format": "ipv6"

JWT

z.string().jwt()

Type.String({ pattern: ... })

"type": "string"

Base64

z.string().base64()

Type.String({ contentEncoding: 'base64' })

"type": "string"

Semver

z.string().regex(...)

Type.String({ pattern: ... })

"type": "string"

Hex color

z.string().regex(...)

Type.String({ pattern: ... })

"type": "string"


Examples

Stripe API

STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_... \
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers/cus_xxx \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRIPE_SECRET_KEY" \
  --name StripeCustomer \
  --out src/types/stripe.ts

Internal API with multiple samples

# Fetch 5 times to correctly detect nullable/optional fields
npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://your-api.com/api/users/random \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_TOKEN" \
  --name User \
  --samples 5 \
  --out src/types/user.ts

TypeBox for Fastify

npx @jayeshbansal/apitype https://api.example.com/products/1 \
  --format typebox \
  --name Product \
  --fetch \
  --out src/types/product.ts

Output:

import { Type, Static } from '@sinclair/typebox'

export const productSchema = Type.Object({
  id: Type.String({ format: 'uuid' }),
  name: Type.String(),
  price: Type.Number(),
  createdAt: Type.String({ format: 'date-time' }),
})

export type Product = Static<typeof productSchema>

export async function fetchProduct(options?: RequestInit): Promise<Product> {
  const res = await fetch('https://api.example.com/products/1', options)
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}: ${res.statusText}`)
  return (await res.json()) as Product
}

Clipboard (macOS/Linux)

pbpaste | npx @jayeshbansal/apitype --name ApiResponse   # macOS
xclip -o | npx @jayeshbansal/apitype --name ApiResponse  # Linux

Comparison

apitype

quicktype

openapi-typescript

json-to-ts

From live URL

❌ (needs spec)

Zod schemas

TypeBox schemas

JSON Schema output

Multi-sample nullable detection

N/A

Typed fetch wrapper

MCP server (AI assistant tool)

Batch config file

Vite plugin

GitHub Action

Watch mode

Library (0 runtime deps)

ENV var interpolation in config


Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Open an issue before large PRs.

git clone https://github.com/jayesh-bansal/apitype
cd apitype
npm install
npm test
npm run dev   # watch mode build

Project structure

src/
├── infer.ts          # JSON → InferredSchema (pattern detection)
├── generate.ts       # InferredSchema → code (dispatches to formats)
├── formats/
│   ├── zod.ts        # Zod schema generator
│   ├── typebox.ts    # TypeBox schema generator
│   ├── typescript.ts # TypeScript-only generator
│   └── jsonschema.ts # JSON Schema generator
├── config.ts         # Config file loading + defineConfig
├── batch.ts          # Batch endpoint processing
├── mcp.ts            # MCP server (stdio JSON-RPC)
├── vite.ts           # Vite plugin
├── index.ts          # Public API
└── cli.ts            # CLI entry

License

MIT © Jayesh Bansal

A
license - permissive license
-
quality - not tested
A
maintenance

Maintenance

Maintainers
Response time
Release cycle
1Releases (12mo)
Commit activity

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