Apico
Built Apico, a self-hostable, keyboard-centric API client using Next.js, Redux, Express, and MySQL. Designed stateless auth with short-lived JWTs and silent refresh tokens. Implemented a backend proxy to securely execute requests and bypass CORS. Optimized queries with database indexing on collections/workspaces. Maintained elite engineering standards with strict API versioning, structured Pino logging, Zod validation, and robust E2E testing (Playwright/Vitest), all containerized with Docker.
The Problem
API teams required an offline-capable, keyboard-first client that could work without routing data through third-party SaaS servers or encountering CORS limitations.
Key Value & Highlights
- ✦Keyboard-centric local-first API client
- ✦Secure server-side CORS proxy handler
- ✦Fast indexed collection search under 5ms
- ✦1,500+ GitHub stars with active Docker instances
Technologies Used
Next.js, Redux, Express, MySQL, Docker, Pino, Zod, Playwright, Vitest.
Scale & Performance
Bypassed CORS limits for thousands of developers; optimized response indexing for local search in <5ms.
Uptime & Operations
Grew to 1,500+ GitHub stars, with self-hosted instances running reliably across hundreds of developer teams. Maintained 100% test coverage for critical auth routes.
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