By Lesauf | July 8, 2025
Welcome to the first part of my series on vibe-coding an eCommerce API! In this series, I’ll walk you through the process of designing and implementing a robust, scalable API for an eCommerce platform. All this while using an AI-powered IDE (I personally used Jetbrains Junie, but you can get similar results with any other AI Assistant). AI Assistants are really powerful tools, and like any other tool they are not responsible for what they do, we, the developers, are.
Here is the code repository.
Key Architectural Considerations for eCommerce APIs
1. Layered Architecture
I want to implement a layered architecture with a clear separation of concerns:
- Presentation Layer: API endpoints, request/response handling
- Business Logic Layer: Core business rules, validation, workflows
- Data Access Layer: Database interactions, caching strategies
- Infrastructure Layer: Logging, authentication, external service integration
This separation makes the codebase more maintainable and testable, allowing different teams to work on different layers simultaneously. This is crucial if the project is expected to grow.
2. Microservices vs. Monolith
For eCommerce APIs, both approaches have merits:
Monolith Advantages:
- Simpler development and deployment
- Easier transaction management
- Lower operational complexity
Microservices Advantages:
- Independent scaling of components
- Technology flexibility per service
- Resilience (failure isolation)
For this portfolio project, I will start with a microservices architecture right from the start to show how it can be done.
3. Data Modeling
eCommerce data models need to handle:
- Product catalogs with complex attributes
- Inventory management
- Order processing workflows
- Customer profiles and preferences
- Pricing and promotion rules
I will be using a combination of relational database (MySQL) for transactional data (orders, payments) and NoSQL solutions (MongoDB) for product catalogs with varying attributes. This will also help show how the clean separation of concerns makes it really easy to seamlessly integrate multiple tools.
4. API Design Patterns
RESTful design works well for eCommerce APIs, with resources like:
/products- Product catalog/orders- Order management/customers- Customer information/carts- Shopping cart operations
For real-time features like inventory updates or order status changes, I will be complementing REST with WebSockets (Socket.io) events.
5. Authentication and Authorization
I will implement robust security with:
- JWT for secure tokens transmission
- OAuth 2.0 for authentication
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- API keys for partner integrations (if I have time)
- Rate limiting to prevent abuse
Scalability Considerations if I have time
eCommerce traffic in real life can be unpredictable, with seasonal spikes and flash sales. The architecture should account for:
- Horizontal scaling capabilities (I am not yet sure of which tool/method I will implement)
- Caching strategies (product data, user sessions)
- Asynchronous processing for non-critical operations
Conclusion
A thoughtfully designed architecture sets the foundation for a successful eCommerce API. In the next part of this series, we’ll dive into setting up the development environment, basic architecture and start implementing the core product catalog functionality.
Stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll start bringing this architecture to life with actual AI-powered, reviewed and personalized code!