Ask Claude to Write an API Client Wrapper for an External Service You're Integrating

Raw HTTP calls scattered throughout your codebase make integration code brittle and hard to test. Claude builds a proper client class that wraps the external API behind clean, typed methods.

"Build an API client for the shipping provider at this URL: 
https://docs.example-shipping.com/api
It should handle authentication, rate tracking, and label generation."

Claude reads the API documentation (or you paste the endpoint details), then generates a client with proper structure:

// Claude generates something like:
class ShippingClient
{
    public function calculateRate(Address $from, Address $to, Package $package): Rate
    public function createShipment(ShipmentRequest $request): Shipment
    public function generateLabel(string $shipmentId): Label
    public function trackPackage(string $trackingNumber): TrackingStatus
}

You can specify what you need:

# From documentation
"Read the API docs at this URL and build a PHP client with proper 
error handling and response DTOs"

# From example requests
"Here are the curl commands for this API. Build a typed client class 
that wraps these endpoints:
[paste curl examples]"

# From an existing integration
"We're calling this API with raw HTTP in 12 places. Extract those 
calls into a proper client class"

# With specific requirements
"Build a Stripe-style client — fluent interface, automatic pagination, 
webhook signature verification, and idempotency keys"

Claude includes the parts that make a client production-ready:

• Authentication — API key injection, OAuth token refresh, header management
• Error handling — typed exceptions for different HTTP status codes
• Retries — exponential backoff for transient failures
• Response mapping — raw JSON mapped to typed objects or DTOs
• Rate limiting — respect the provider's limits
• Logging — request/response logging for debugging

Every API integration starts as raw HTTP calls. A proper client wrapper makes it testable, maintainable, and safe — let Claude build one from the docs.

via Claude Code