Adapters

The adapter runs the API at runtime. It translates between representations and HTTP — validating requests, building queries, and rendering responses.

What Adapters Do

Every request flows through the adapter:

1. Validate — Check request against contract types
2. Transform — Convert input for processing
3. Query — Build and execute database queries
4. Serialize — Convert records to response data
5. Wrap — Structure the final response body

The adapter derives most behavior from representations. Filterable attributes become filter parameters. Sortable attributes become sort options. Associations become includable relations.

Capabilities

Adapters are built from capabilities — modular features like filtering, sorting, pagination. Each capability contributes to three phases:

Phase	Runs	Purpose
API	Once at boot	Register shared types
Contract	Once per representation	Generate representation-specific types
Runtime	Each request	Process data

Standard Adapter

Apiwork ships with a complete REST adapter. It provides:

• Filtering — ?filter[status][eq]=sent
• Sorting — ?sort[created_at]=desc
• Pagination — offset or cursor
• Includes — eager load associations
• Action Defaults — generated CRUD

For minor changes, extend the standard adapter.

Next Steps

• Standard Adapter — the built-in REST adapter
• Custom Adapters — build a custom adapter for JSON:API, HAL, or any format

See also

• Adapter::Base reference — all adapter methods and options