How to Build an API-First Front End with OpenAPI, Orval, TanStack Query, Zod
The article discusses the importance of adopting an API-first approach in frontend development using tools like OpenAPI, Orval, TanStack Query, and Zod. It highlights how treating OpenAPI as a development asset rather than mere documentation can streamline the integration process between frontend and backend teams. By generating TypeScript models and API clients from OpenAPI specifications, developers can work more efficiently and reduce mismatches between expected and actual data structures.
- ▪Frontend development often suffers from issues when backend changes occur after frontend work begins.
- ▪An API-first approach allows frontend developers to start their work based on a real contract before the backend is implemented.
- ▪Using OpenAPI as a source of truth can automate the generation of TypeScript models, API clients, and validation schemas.
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How to Build an API-First Frontend with OpenAPI, Orval, TanStack Query, Zod, and Next.jsThe React Systems NewsletterMay 27, 2026ShareFrontend development has a repetitive problem that almost every team eventually rediscovers.You receive an API endpoint.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.SubscribeYou write:request functionsresponse typesReact hooksloading statesmutation handlersmocksvalidation logicThen the backend changes one field.Now:generated screenshots failUI forms breakstale interfaces lie to TypeScriptQA opens twelve ticketsThe larger the application becomes, the worse this cycle gets.The irony is that modern teams already possess something capable of solving a large part of this problem:the API contract.That contract usually exists as…
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