API Endpoint and Serializer Authoring (apps/api)

A. Adding a Resource or Action Endpoint

1. Classify the endpoint type

• Resource endpoint (GET /v1/sites/{id}/cameras): implies the resource exists; return HTTP 409 when the required product is absent.
• Action endpoint: advisory; always return HTTP 200 with a capability_not_available envelope when the capability is missing — never 404 or 409 for action endpoints.

2. Wire cursor-based pagination

Use Cursor and paginate() from apps/api/src/unifi_api/services/pagination.py:

from unifi_api.services.pagination import Cursor, InvalidCursor, paginate

cursor = Cursor.decode(cursor_str) if cursor_str else None
page, next_cursor = paginate(items, cursor=cursor, limit=limit, key_fn=key_fn)

• Cursor encodes {last_id, last_ts} as Base64 — survives new inserts; offset/page-number pagination does not.
• Default limit 50, max 200. Expose cursor as an opaque query-string param.

3. Apply the dependency rule

apps/api/ MUST only import from unifi-core. Never import unifi-mcp-shared inside apps/api/ — it couples the REST server to MCP protocol concerns.

4. Wire ManagerFactory

ManagerFactory lives in apps/api/src/unifi_api/services/managers.py. It caches one manager per (controller_id, product) pair behind asyncio locks:

manager = await factory.get_connection_manager(session, controller_id, product)

• product_kinds in the DB row is a comma-separated string. The factory splits it and raises UnknownProduct if the product isn't listed — so set product_kinds accurately when registering a controller.
• Each concurrency scope (request) shares the cached manager instance; no per-request teardown.

B. Phase 5A Advanced Routing Patterns

Capability-aware dispatch

When two products expose identically-named endpoint families (e.g., both Network and Protect expose /events), dispatch at request time by consulting controller.product_kinds. Route to the correct manager based on which products are active — avoids collisions without duplicate routes.

Path disambiguation for cross-product collisions

Add per-product prefixes on ambiguous routes:

• /access/events — not /events
• /protect/health — not /health

Without prefixes, three product packages collide in the route namespace.

Dual-kind stats

Accept a kind=timeseries|detail query parameter on the same endpoint; select the appropriate RenderKind at the route layer. Avoids duplicating tools for two render modes of the same data.

Wrapper-dict unwrap pattern

When a UniFi API returns a wrapper dict (e.g., switch-ports, port-stats, lldp-neighbors):

1. Register the serializer as RenderKind.DETAIL.
2. At the route layer, call the tool inline and override render_hint to emit LIST.

Do NOT push list logic into the DETAIL serializer.

TOOL_ROUTE_OVERRIDES

When a route function name doesn't follow the default convention (tool name minus product prefix), add an entry to TOOL_ROUTE_OVERRIDES in:

apps/api/tests/test_resource_route_coverage.py

This is a test-time mapping only — it is NOT applied at server startup. Adding an override here does NOT register a route; you still need a real FastAPI route function. The dict currently has 17 entries (Task 22 audit).

C. Authoring a Serializer (Post-Phase 6)

Phase 6 shift: Read tools (unifi_list_*, unifi_get_*, protect_*, access_list_*) now project via Strawberry types — see the graphql-api-extension skill. The serializer layer covers mutation acks only (create/update/delete/toggle). validate_manifest accepts either a serializer or a Strawberry type registration as valid coverage.

1. Module placement

apps/api/src/unifi_api/serializers/<domain>/<resource>.py

Example: apps/api/src/unifi_api/serializers/network/dns.py

2. Decorator syntax — use the tools= dict form

The tool_name= / kind= keyword form does NOT exist. Use:

from unifi_api.serializers._base import RenderKind, Serializer, register_serializer


@register_serializer(
    tools={
        "unifi_create_dns_record": {"kind": RenderKind.DETAIL},
        "unifi_update_dns_record": {"kind": RenderKind.DETAIL},
        "unifi_delete_dns_record": {"kind": RenderKind.DETAIL},
    },
)
class DnsMutationAckSerializer(Serializer):
    @staticmethod
    def serialize(obj) -> dict:
        if isinstance(obj, bool):
            return {"success": obj}
        if isinstance(obj, dict):
            return obj
        return {"result": str(obj)}

For a single tool using the class-level kind:

@register_serializer(tools=["unifi_create_foo"])

3. RenderKind taxonomy

Seven values in apps/api/src/unifi_api/serializers/_base.py:

4. Field curation discipline

Declare exactly which fields appear for each kind. Serializers are curated, not pass-through. Do not add a "return everything" serializer — the cumulative curation effort across 235+ tools is intentional.

5. Serializer layering rule

Serializers live in apps/api/ only. Managers and MCP tool functions MUST NOT reference render hints or catalog metadata. This keeps MCP servers free of serialization coupling (decision-a63cb266).

D. CI Gates

validate_manifest

Runs at server startup via discover_serializers() in apps/api/src/unifi_api/serializers/_registry.py. Raises SerializerRegistryError if any manifest tool lacks both a serializer registration and a Strawberry type registration. After Phase 6, you need at least one — not necessarily both.

test_resource_route_coverage

File: apps/api/tests/test_resource_route_coverage.py

Every read tool must have a registered GET resource route. When adding a read tool:

1. Register a route function in the FastAPI app.
2. If the name doesn't follow the default convention, add to TOOL_ROUTE_OVERRIDES in that test file.
3. Run pytest apps/api/tests/test_resource_route_coverage.py locally.

Test isolation for serializer tests

Import _reset_registry_for_tests from unifi_api.serializers._registry. It clears module-level registries AND evicts serializer submodules from sys.modules, forcing discover_serializers to re-import and re-run all decorators. Call in both setup and teardown.

from unifi_api.serializers._registry import _reset_registry_for_tests


def setup_function():
    _reset_registry_for_tests()


def teardown_function():
    _reset_registry_for_tests()

Cross-Cutting Gotchas

• ManagerFactory, not ControllerFactory: class lives in apps/api/src/unifi_api/services/managers.py. Wrong name → ImportError.
• product_kinds is comma-separated in the DB: Always split with .split(",") and filter empty strings. Inaccurate product_kinds causes UnknownProduct at request time.
• TOOL_ROUTE_OVERRIDES is test-only: Does not register routes. You still need a real FastAPI route function registered in the app.
• Live smoke required: Mock CI cannot detect UniFi API contract violations. Six confirmed violation classes only surfaced via live hardware testing. See live-smoke-testing skill before cutting a PR.
• apps/api dependency boundary is enforced: Importing unifi_mcp_shared anywhere in apps/api/ is a build-time error.