Apex Designer

Apex Designer

Apex Designer is a low-code platform for building full-stack applications. Projects are defined using a TypeScript DSL in the /design directory. The server code (/server), client code (/client), and documentation (/docs) are all generated from the design files and should not be edited directly.

Design Artifacts

All design artifacts are TypeScript files in the /design directory using the Apex Designer DSL. Read the relevant doc before creating or modifying a design type:

Libraries

Libraries provide reusable design assets, client and server npm packages, and code generators. Read the library README for available components, patterns, and conventions. This project includes the following libraries:

• @apexdesigner/doc-generators — Design documentation generators for Apex Designer projects (see design/node_modules/@apexdesigner/doc-generators/README.md)

If you discover a useful pattern or convention while working with this project, suggest adding it to the library documentation so it can benefit other projects.

If this project is itself a library, see .claude/skills/apex-designer/docs/library-development.md for library-specific patterns.

Workflow

1. Read the relevant doc before creating or modifying a design type
2. Create or edit design files in design/ — use the Write tool to create new files (it auto-creates directories)
3. A validation hook runs automatically after Edit/Write to design/ files (via .claude/skills/apex-designer/scripts/resolve.cjs) — it checks for errors but does not auto-fix
4. After completing a set of related edits, run ad3 resolve to auto-fix issues (adds inverse relationships, foreign keys, etc.) and regenerate code
5. If diagnostics remain after resolve, stop and ask the user for help — do not attempt workarounds
6. ad3 is installed globally — do not use npx
7. After deleting a design file, run ad3 resolve manually — the hook only triggers on Edit/Write, not file deletions

What resolve adds automatically

You don't need to include these in design files — resolve will add them automatically:

• id property
• Foreign key properties (e.g., locationId for a location belongs-to relationship)
• Inverse relationships (e.g., contacts?: Contact[] on Location when Contact has location?: Location)

ad3 resolve handles the full validate/fix/generate cycle, looping until stable. No manual ad3 gen steps are needed.

Static files

Files placed in design/client/ or design/server/ are copied into the corresponding generated directory using the same relative path. For example, design/client/assets/logo.png is copied to client/assets/logo.png. Use this for assets, configuration files, or any file that should be included in the generated output without modification.

Warning: Do not use static files to override generated files. If a static file has the same path as a generated file, the static file wins and the generator is blocked. This produces a warning during ad3 gen:

W: server/src/index.ts - Static file overrides generator "server" output

Overriding generated files is a last-resort workaround that creates maintenance burden — the static copy won't receive generator improvements or bug fixes. The better approach is to request changes to the generator so the generated output meets your needs directly.

Design Documentation

Each concept directory in /design must have a markdown file documenting its design assets (e.g., process-design/process-design.md). The root /design/design.md file provides a map of all concept directories. All design artifacts must be referenced by at least one .md file in the design directory. See .claude/skills/apex-designer/docs/design-docs-style.md for the style guide covering structure, linking conventions, and formatting patterns.

AD2 Migration

See .claude/skills/apex-designer/docs/ad2-migration.md for pulling AD2 design data and migrating to AD3.

CLI

See .claude/skills/apex-designer/docs/cli.md for the full ad3 command reference.

Key commands:

• ad3 resolve — validate and auto-fix (includes validation, no need for separate ad3 val)
• ad3 gen — generate code from design files
• ad3 stop / ad3 start — manage the ad3 server
• Any ad3 command starts the server if it isn't already running

API CLI

The API CLI script makes authenticated requests to the running server. It handles OIDC login, token caching/refresh, and API calls.

# Login (opens browser for OIDC authentication)
npx api login

# Make API requests
npx api get /api/candidates
npx api post /api/candidates '{"name":"Alice"}'
npx api delete /api/candidates/123

# Impersonate a user
npx api --as user@example.com get /api/items

# Logout
npx api logout

Tokens are cached in .api.json at the project root. The callback port range (default 3100-3149) can be customized there:

{ "callbackPorts": [3100, 3149] }

The server must be running before login. The script reads the server port from .workspace.json or defaults to 3000.

Rules

• Simple commands only — Don't chain commands with && or ;. Run each ad3 command as a separate Bash call. Compound commands trigger approval prompts.
• Don't edit generated code — Never edit files in /server, /client, or /docs/design. These are generated and will be overwritten. Only edit files in /design.
• No git -C — Don't use git -C <path>. Run git commands from the current working directory. The -C flag triggers approval prompts.
• No cd with commands — Don't combine cd <path> && command or cd <path>; command. If you need to verify the working directory, run pwd as a separate step, then run the command on its own.

Dev Server

See .claude/skills/apex-designer/docs/dev-sh.md for usage. The script is at .claude/skills/apex-designer/scripts/dev.sh (relative to the project root).

• bash .claude/skills/apex-designer/scripts/dev.sh — starts server and client in background, then exits
• bash .claude/skills/apex-designer/scripts/dev.sh --server-only — starts only the server (faster, useful for API testing)
• bash .claude/skills/apex-designer/scripts/dev.sh --stop — stops all dev processes
• bash .claude/skills/apex-designer/scripts/dev.sh --debug "AppName:*" — enables debug output
• Running it again automatically kills existing processes on the ports
• Fire-and-forget: the server uses tsx --watch and will auto-restart as files change. If startup fails or times out, check logs/server.log and fix the issue (e.g., run ad3 gen) — do NOT re-run dev.sh
• Ports can be pinned per project via .workspace.json:

  { "ports": { "server": 3000, "client": 4200 } }
  

  Priority: .workspace.json → PORT/CLIENT_PORT env vars → defaults (3000/4200)