Route overrides

This is the official documentation of the @forestadmin/agent Node.js agent.

Route overrides ↗ allowed customizing the behavior of the routes exposed by the agent.

This very low-level feature was used to implement many use cases:

• Attach handlers to events in the UI

• Customize filtering, search and sort behaviors

• Other advanced use cases.

Because our new agent API is higher-level, the protocol used to communicate between the agent and the application can no longer be manipulated.

Code cheatsheet

What was the route override used for?	How to migrate it?
Add custom permissions	Use .addHook() and throw forbidden errors
Add validation to fields	Use .addFieldValidation() instead
Add validation to whole records	Use .addHook() and throw validation errors
Run code on UI events	Use .addHook() to perform custom logic
Change the search behavior	Use .replaceSearch() to implement your custom search logic
Change the filtering behavior of fields	Use .replaceFieldOperator()
Change the sort behavior of fields	Use .replaceFieldSorting()
Other use case	If you are stuck or think that this guide can be improved, please expose your use case in the community forums ↗ and we will be happy to help you

Examples

Add custom permissions

Custom permissions would better be implemented by using the Roles ↗ feature from the UI.

Before

router.delete(
  '/companies/:recordId',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.delete(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { params, query, user } = request;

    if (user.email !== '[e-mail]') {
      response
        .status(403)
        .send('This collection is protected, you cannot remove from it.');
      return;
    }

    next();
  },
);

After

agent.customizeCollection('customers', companies => {
  // Add a hook to the "customers" collection
  companies.addHook('Before', 'Delete', async context => {
    if (context.caller.email !== '[e-mail]')
      context.throwForbiddenError(
        'This collection is protected, you cannot remove from it.',
      );
  });
});

Add validation to fields

Before

function handler(request, response, next) {
  const patch = request.body.data.attributes;

  if (path.name && /^Forest/.test(path.name)) {
    return "All company names should begin with 'Forest'.";
  }

  if (error) {
    response.status(400).send(error);
  } else {
    next();
  }
}

router.post('/companies', permissionMiddlewareCreator.create(), handler);
router.put('/companies/:id', permissionMiddlewareCreator.update(), handler);

After

agent.customizeCollection('companies', companies => {
  companies.addFieldValidation('name', 'Match', /^Forest/);
});

Run code on UI events

Before

// Override the POST /customers route
router.post(
  '/customers',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.create(),
  async (req, res, next) => {
    try {
      // Call an external API.
      await superagent
        .post('https://my-company/create-card')
        .set('X-API-Key', '**********')
        .end();

      // Calls next() to executes Forest Admin's default behavior
      next();
    } catch (err) {
      next(err);
    }
  },
);

After

agent.customizeCollection('customers', companies => {
  // Add a hook to the "customers" collection
  companies.addHook('Before', 'Create', async context => {
    await superagent
      .post('https://my-company/create-card')
      .set('X-API-Key', '**********')
      .end();
  });
});