Core Concepts

Understanding the fundamental concepts behind APSO will help you build better backends faster.

The APSO Workflow

1. Define — Write your data model in .apsorc
2. Generate — Run apso server scaffold to generate production code
3. Extend — Add custom logic in the extensions/ directory
4. Run — Start your server and deploy

Key Concepts

Services

A service is a complete backend application. Each service has:

• A unique name and description
• Entity definitions
• Authentication configuration
• Multi-tenancy (scoping) settings

Schemas (Entities)

Entities define your data model. Each entity becomes:

• A database table
• A REST API resource
• TypeScript types and DTOs

Code Generation

APSO generates real, production code that you own:

• NestJS, FastAPI, or Go applications
• Type-safe, fully tested patterns
• No runtime dependencies on APSO

Extensions

The extensions pattern lets you add custom logic:

• Without modifying generated code
• Safe across regeneration
• Clean separation of concerns

Multi-Tenancy (Scoping)

Built-in data scoping isolates data:

• Organization-level isolation
• Automatic filtering on all queries
• Configurable scope fields

Authentication (BYOA)

Bring Your Own Auth philosophy:

• Better Auth integration included
• Or use any auth provider
• JWT validation built-in

Learn More