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React to FastAPI

The connection generator provides a way to quickly integrate your React website with your FastAPI backend. It sets up all necessary configuration for connecting to your FastAPI backends in a type-safe manner, including client and TanStack Query hooks generation, AWS IAM and Cognito authentication support and proper error handling.

Before using this generator, ensure your React application has:

  1. A main.tsx file that renders your application
  2. A working FastAPI backend (generated using the FastAPI generator)
  3. Cognito Auth added via the ts#website#auth generator if connecting an API which uses Cognito or IAM auth
Example of required main.tsx structure
import { StrictMode } from 'react';
import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
import App from './app/app';
const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(
document.getElementById('root') as HTMLElement,
);
root.render(
<StrictMode>
<App />
</StrictMode>,
);

Run this generator@aws/nx-plugin:connection

pnpm nx g @aws/nx-plugin:connection
Build your command5

Required

Required

Generator Options5 options
sourceProjectRequiredstring

The source project

targetProjectRequiredstring

The target project to connect to

sourceComponentstring

The source component to connect from (component name, path relative to source project root, or generator id). Use '.' to explicitly select the project as the source.

targetComponentstring

The target component to connect to (component name, path relative to target project root, or generator id). Use '.' to explicitly select the project as the target.

preferInstallDependenciesbooleanDefault: true

Whether to prefer installing dependencies after the generator runs. Set to false to defer installing when batching multiple generators (an install still runs if needed so subsequent generators can compute the Nx project graph); install once at the end.

The generator will make changes to the following files in your FastAPI project:

  • Directoryscripts
    • generate_open_api.py Add a script which generates an OpenAPI specification for your API
  • project.json A new target is added to the build which invokes the above generate script

The generator will make changes to the following files in your React application:

  • Directorysrc
    • Directorycomponents
      • <ApiName>Provider.tsx Provider for your API client
      • QueryClientProvider.tsx TanStack React Query client provider
    • Directoryhooks
      • use<ApiName>.tsx Add a hook for calling your API with state managed by TanStack Query
      • use<ApiName>Client.tsx Add a hook for instantiating the vanilla API client which can call your API.
      • useSigV4.tsx Add a hook for signing HTTP requests with SigV4 (if you selected IAM authentication)
  • project.json A new target is added to the build which generates a type-safe client
  • .gitignore The generated client files are ignored by default

The generator will also add Runtime Config to your website infrastructure if not present already, which ensures that the API URL for your FastAPI is available in the website and automatically configured by the use<ApiName>.tsx hook.

At build time, a type-safe client is generated from your FastAPI’s OpenAPI specification. This will add three new files to your React application:

  • Directorysrc
    • Directorygenerated
      • Directory<ApiName>
        • types.gen.ts Generated types from the pydantic models defined in your FastAPI
        • client.gen.ts Type-safe client for calling your API
        • options-proxy.gen.ts Provides methods to create TanStack Query hooks options for interacting with your API using TanStack Query

The generated type-safe client can be used to call your FastAPI from your React application. It’s recommended to make use of the client via the TanStack Query hooks, but you can use the vanilla client if you prefer.

The generator provides a use<ApiName> hook which you can use to call your API with TanStack Query.

You can use the queryOptions method to retrieve the options required for calling your API using TanStack Query’s useQuery hook:

import { useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { useMyApi } from './hooks/useMyApi';
function MyComponent() {
const api = useMyApi();
const item = useQuery(api.getItem.queryOptions({ itemId: 'some-id' }));
if (item.isPending) return <div>Loading...</div>;
if (item.isError) return <div>Error: {JSON.stringify(item.error.error)}</div>;
return <div>Item: {item.data.name}</div>;
}

The error is a discriminated union of { status, error } objects rather than an Error, so there is no top-level message to render. Narrow on status to read a specific response body — see Error Handling below.

Click here for an example using the vanilla client directly.

The generated hooks include support for mutations using TanStack Query’s useMutation hook. This provides a clean way to handle create, update, and delete operations with loading states, error handling, and optimistic updates.

import { useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { useMyApi } from './hooks/useMyApi';
function CreateItemForm() {
const api = useMyApi();
// Create a mutation using the generated mutation options
const createItem = useMutation(api.createItem.mutationOptions());
const handleSubmit = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
createItem.mutate({ name: 'New Item', description: 'A new item' });
};
return (
<form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
{/* Form fields */}
<button
type="submit"
disabled={createItem.isPending}
>
{createItem.isPending ? 'Creating...' : 'Create Item'}
</button>
{createItem.isSuccess && (
<div className="success">
Item created with ID: {createItem.data.id}
</div>
)}
{createItem.isError && (
<div className="error">
Error: {JSON.stringify(createItem.error.error)}
</div>
)}
</form>
);
}

You can also add callbacks for different mutation states:

const createItem = useMutation({
...api.createItem.mutationOptions(),
onSuccess: (data) => {
// This will run when the mutation succeeds
console.log('Item created:', data);
// You can navigate to the new item
navigate(`/items/${data.id}`);
},
onError: (error) => {
// This will run when the mutation fails
console.error('Failed to create item:', error);
},
onSettled: () => {
// This will run when the mutation completes (success or error)
// Good place to invalidate queries that might be affected
queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: api.listItems.queryKey({}) });
}
});
Click here for an example using the client directly.

For endpoints that accept a file upload, the generated client sends the request as FormData. Define an operation with a multipart/form-data body in your FastAPI, for example using UploadFile:

from fastapi import UploadFile
@app.post("/files")
async def upload_file(file: UploadFile, description: str = "") -> FileMetadata:
contents = await file.read()
...

Binary fields are typed as Blob on the generated client, and other fields (such as description above) keep their modelled types. Pass a Blob or File — for example one obtained from an <input type="file">:

import { useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { useMyApi } from './hooks/useMyApi';
function UploadForm() {
const api = useMyApi();
const uploadFile = useMutation(api.uploadFile.mutationOptions());
const handleChange = (e: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
const file = e.target.files?.[0];
if (file) {
uploadFile.mutate({ file, description: file.name });
}
};
return <input type="file" onChange={handleChange} />;
}

The client builds a FormData body and lets fetch set the Content-Type (including the multipart boundary) automatically.

For endpoints that accept a cursor parameter as input, the generated hooks provide support for infinite queries using TanStack Query’s useInfiniteQuery hook. This makes it easy to implement “load more” or infinite scrolling functionality.

import { useInfiniteQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { useMyApi } from './hooks/useMyApi';
function ItemList() {
const api = useMyApi();
const items = useInfiniteQuery({
...api.listItems.infiniteQueryOptions({
limit: 10, // Number of items per page
}, {
// Make sure you define a getNextPageParam function to return
// the parameter that should be passed as the 'cursor' for the
// next page
getNextPageParam: (lastPage) =>
lastPage.nextCursor || undefined
}),
});
if (items.isPending) {
return <LoadingSpinner />;
}
if (items.isError) {
return <ErrorMessage message={JSON.stringify(items.error.error)} />;
}
return (
<div>
{/* Flatten the pages array to render all items */}
<ul>
{items.data.pages.flatMap(page =>
page.items.map(item => (
<li key={item.id}>{item.name}</li>
))
)}
</ul>
<button
onClick={() => items.fetchNextPage()}
disabled={!items.hasNextPage || items.isFetchingNextPage}
>
{items.isFetchingNextPage
? 'Loading more...'
: items.hasNextPage
? 'Load More'
: 'No more items'}
</button>
</div>
);
}

The generated hooks automatically handle cursor-based pagination if your API supports it. The nextCursor value is extracted from the response and used to fetch the next page.

Click here for an example using the client directly.

The integration includes built-in error handling with typed error responses. An <OperationName>Error type is generated which is a union of one <OperationName><StatusCode>Error member per error status the operation’s responses declares. Each member has a status and an error property, so switching on status narrows error to that status’s model.

The example below assumes create_item declares the responses defined further down this page — a 400 ValidationErrorDetails, a 403 str and a 500 ErrorDetails. Only the statuses you declare appear in the union (plus FastAPI’s own 422), so a case for a status you haven’t declared is a compile error.

import { useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query';
function MyComponent() {
const api = useMyApi();
const createItem = useMutation(api.createItem.mutationOptions());
const handleClick = () => {
createItem.mutate({ name: 'New Item' });
};
if (createItem.error) {
switch (createItem.error.status) {
case 400:
// error.error is typed as ValidationErrorDetails
return (
<div>
<h2>Invalid input:</h2>
<p>{createItem.error.error.message}</p>
<ul>
{createItem.error.error.fieldErrors.map((err) => (
<li key={err}>{err}</li>
))}
</ul>
</div>
);
case 403:
// error.error is a string as specified in the responses
return (
<div>
<h2>Not authorized:</h2>
<p>{createItem.error.error}</p>
</div>
);
case 500:
// error.error is typed as ErrorDetails
return (
<div>
<h2>Server error:</h2>
<p>{createItem.error.error.message}</p>
</div>
);
}
}
return <button onClick={handleClick}>Create Item</button>;
}
Click here for an example using the vanilla client directly.

If you have configured your FastAPI to stream responses, your useQuery hook will automatically update its data as new chunks of the stream arrive.

For example:

function MyStreamingComponent() {
const api = useMyApi();
const stream = useQuery(api.myStream.queryOptions());
return (
<ul>
{(stream.data ?? []).map((chunk) => (
<li>
{chunk.timestamp.toISOString()}: {chunk.message}
</li>
))}
</ul>
);
}

You can use the isLoading and fetchStatus properties to determine the current state of the stream if necessary. A stream follows this lifecycle:

  1. The HTTP request to start streaming is sent

    • isLoading is true
    • fetchStatus is 'fetching'
    • data is undefined
  2. The first chunk of the stream is received

    • isLoading becomes false
    • fetchStatus remains 'fetching'
    • data becomes an array containing the first chunk
  3. Subsequent chunks are received

    • isLoading remains false
    • fetchStatus remains 'fetching'
    • data is updated with each subsequent chunk as soon as it is received
  4. The stream completes

    • isLoading remains false
    • fetchStatus becomes 'idle'
    • data is an array of all received chunks
Click here for an example using the vanilla client directly.

By default, operations in your FastAPI which use the HTTP methods PUT, POST, PATCH and DELETE are considered mutations, and all others are considered queries.

You can change this behaviour using x-query and x-mutation.

@app.post(
"/items",
openapi_extra={
"x-query": True
}
)
def list_items():
# ...

The generated hook will provide queryOptions even though it uses the POST HTTP method:

const items = useQuery(api.listItems.queryOptions());
@app.get(
"/start-processing",
openapi_extra={
"x-mutation": True
}
)
def start_processing():
# ...

The generated hook will provide mutationOptions even though it uses the GET HTTP method:

// Generated hook will include the custom options
const startProcessing = useMutation(api.startProcessing.mutationOptions());

By default, the generated hooks assume cursor-based pagination with a parameter named cursor. You can customize this behavior using the x-cursor extension:

@app.get(
"/items",
openapi_extra={
# Specify a different parameter name for the cursor
"x-cursor": "page_token"
}
)
def list_items(page_token: str = None, limit: int = 10):
# ...
return {
"items": items,
"page_token": next_page_token
}

If you would not like to generate infiniteQueryOptions for an operation, you can set x-cursor to False:

@app.get(
"/items",
openapi_extra={
# Disable cursor-based pagination for this endpoint
"x-cursor": False
}
)
def list_items(page: int = 1, limit: int = 10):
# ...
return {
"items": items,
"total": total_count,
"page": page,
"pages": total_pages
}

The generated hooks and client methods are automatically organized based on the OpenAPI tags in your FastAPI endpoints. This helps keep your API calls organized and makes it easier to find related operations.

Within a group each operation keeps its own camelCased name, taken from your endpoint function’s name — so def list_items() tagged "items" is reached at api.items.listItems.

For example:

items.py
@app.get(
"/items",
tags=["items"],
)
def list(cursor: str | None = None):
# ...
@app.post(
"/items",
tags=["items"],
)
def create(item: Item):
# ...
users.py
@app.get(
"/users",
tags=["users"],
)
def list():
# ...

The generated hooks will be grouped by these tags:

import { useQuery, useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import { useMyApi } from './hooks/useMyApi';
function ItemsAndUsers() {
const api = useMyApi();
// Items operations are grouped under api.items
const items = useQuery(api.items.list.queryOptions({}));
const createItem = useMutation(api.items.create.mutationOptions());
// Users operations are grouped under api.users
const users = useQuery(api.users.list.queryOptions());
// Usage example
const handleCreateItem = () => {
createItem.mutate({ name: 'New Item' });
};
return (
<div>
<h2>Items</h2>
<ul>
{items.data?.map(item => (
<li key={item.id}>{item.name}</li>
))}
</ul>
<button onClick={handleCreateItem}>Add Item</button>
<h2>Users</h2>
<ul>
{users.data?.map(user => (
<li key={user.id}>{user.name}</li>
))}
</ul>
</div>
);
}

This grouping makes it easier to organize your API calls and provides better code completion in your IDE.

Click here for an example using the client directly.

You can customize error responses in your FastAPI by defining custom exception classes, exception handlers, and specifying response models for different error status codes. The generated client will automatically handle these custom error types.

First, define your error models using Pydantic:

models.py
from pydantic import BaseModel
class ErrorDetails(BaseModel):
message: str
class ValidationErrorDetails(BaseModel):
message: str
field_errors: list[str]

Then create custom exception classes for different error scenarios:

exceptions.py
class NotFoundException(Exception):
def __init__(self, message: str):
self.message = message
class ValidationException(Exception):
def __init__(self, details: ValidationErrorDetails):
self.details = details

Register exception handlers to convert your exceptions to HTTP responses:

main.py
from fastapi import Request
from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
@app.exception_handler(NotFoundException)
async def not_found_handler(request: Request, exc: NotFoundException):
return JSONResponse(
status_code=404,
content=exc.message,
)
@app.exception_handler(ValidationException)
async def validation_error_handler(request: Request, exc: ValidationException):
return JSONResponse(
status_code=400,
content=exc.details.model_dump(),
)

Finally, specify the response models for different error status codes in your endpoint definitions:

main.py
@app.get(
"/items/{item_id}",
responses={
404: {"model": str},
500: {"model": ErrorDetails},
}
)
def get_item(item_id: str) -> Item:
item = find_item(item_id)
if not item:
raise NotFoundException(message=f"Item with ID {item_id} not found")
return item
@app.post(
"/items",
responses={
400: {"model": ValidationErrorDetails},
403: {"model": str},
500: {"model": ErrorDetails},
}
)
def create_item(item: Item) -> Item:
if not is_valid(item):
raise ValidationException(
ValidationErrorDetails(
message="Invalid item data",
field_errors=["name is required"]
)
)
return save_item(item)

The generated client will automatically handle these custom error types, allowing you to type-check and handle different error responses:

import { useMutation, useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
function ItemComponent() {
const api = useMyApi();
const getItem = useQuery(api.getItem.queryOptions({ itemId: '123' }));
// Mutation with typed error handling
const createItem = useMutation({
...api.createItem.mutationOptions(),
onError: (error) => {
// Error is typed based on the responses in your FastAPI
switch (error.status) {
case 400:
// error.error is typed as ValidationErrorDetails
console.error('Validation error:', error.error.message);
console.error('Field errors:', error.error.fieldErrors);
break;
case 403:
// error.error is a string as specified in the responses
console.error('Forbidden:', error.error);
break;
}
}
});
// Component rendering with error handling
if (getItem.isError) {
switch (getItem.error.status) {
case 404:
// error.error is a string as specified in the responses
return <NotFoundMessage message={getItem.error.error} />;
case 500:
// error.error is typed as ErrorDetails
return <ErrorMessage message={getItem.error.error.message} />;
}
}
return (
<div>
{/* Component content */}
</div>
);
}
Click here for an example using the client directly.

Always handle loading and error states for a better user experience:

import { useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
function ItemList() {
const api = useMyApi();
const items = useQuery(api.listItems.queryOptions({}));
if (items.isLoading) {
return <LoadingSpinner />;
}
if (items.isError) {
const err = items.error;
switch (err.status) {
case 403:
// err.error is a string as specified in the responses
return <ErrorMessage message={err.error} />;
case 500:
// err.error is typed as ErrorDetails
return <ErrorMessage message={err.error.message} />;
default:
return <ErrorMessage message="An unknown error occurred" />;
}
}
return (
<ul>
{items.data?.items.map((item) => (
<li key={item.id}>{item.name}</li>
))}
</ul>
);
}
Click here for an example using the vanilla client directly.

Implement optimistic updates for a better user experience:

import { useQuery, useMutation, useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
import type { ListItemsOutput } from '../generated/my-api/types.gen';
function ItemList() {
const api = useMyApi();
const queryClient = useQueryClient();
// Query to fetch items
const itemsQuery = useQuery(api.listItems.queryOptions({}));
// Mutation for deleting items with optimistic updates
const deleteMutation = useMutation({
...api.deleteItem.mutationOptions(),
onMutate: async ({ itemId }) => {
// Cancel any outgoing refetches
await queryClient.cancelQueries({
queryKey: api.listItems.queryKey({}),
});
// Snapshot the previous value
const previousItems = queryClient.getQueryData<ListItemsOutput>(
api.listItems.queryKey({}),
);
// Optimistically update to the new value
queryClient.setQueryData<ListItemsOutput>(
api.listItems.queryKey({}),
(old) =>
old && {
...old,
items: old.items.filter((item) => item.id !== itemId),
},
);
// Return a context object with the snapshot
return { previousItems };
},
onError: (err, _input, context) => {
// If the mutation fails, use the context returned from onMutate to roll back
queryClient.setQueryData(
api.listItems.queryKey({}),
context?.previousItems,
);
console.error('Failed to delete item:', err);
},
onSettled: () => {
// Always refetch after error or success to ensure data is in sync with server
queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: api.listItems.queryKey({}) });
},
});
if (itemsQuery.isLoading) {
return <LoadingSpinner />;
}
if (itemsQuery.isError) {
return <ErrorMessage message="Failed to load items" />;
}
return (
<ul>
{itemsQuery.data?.items.map((item) => (
<li key={item.id}>
{item.name}
<button
onClick={() => deleteMutation.mutate({ itemId: item.id })}
disabled={deleteMutation.isPending}
>
{deleteMutation.isPending ? 'Deleting...' : 'Delete'}
</button>
</li>
))}
</ul>
);
}
Click here for an example using the vanilla client directly.

The integration provides complete end-to-end type safety. Your IDE will provide full autocompletion and type checking for all your API calls:

import { useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query';
function ItemForm() {
const api = useMyApi();
// Type-safe mutation for creating items
const createItem = useMutation({
...api.createItem.mutationOptions(),
// ✅ Type error if onSuccess callback doesn't handle the correct response type
onSuccess: (data) => {
// data is fully typed based on your API's response schema
console.log(`Item created with ID: ${data.id}`);
},
});
const handleSubmit = (data: CreateItemInput) => {
// ✅ Type error if input doesn't match schema
createItem.mutate(data);
};
// Error UI can use type narrowing to handle different error types
if (createItem.error) {
const error = createItem.error;
switch (error.status) {
case 400:
// error.error is typed as ValidationErrorDetails
return (
<FormError
message="Invalid input"
errors={error.error.fieldErrors}
/>
);
case 403:
// error.error is a string as specified in the responses
return <AuthError reason={error.error} />;
case 500:
// error.error is typed as ErrorDetails
return <ServerError message={error.error.message} />;
default:
// FastAPI adds a 422 to every endpoint, so `default` isn't narrowed
return <ServerError message="An unknown error occurred" />;
}
}
return (
<form onSubmit={(e) => {
e.preventDefault();
handleSubmit({ name: 'New Item' });
}}>
{/* Form fields */}
<button
type="submit"
disabled={createItem.isPending}
>
{createItem.isPending ? 'Creating...' : 'Create Item'}
</button>
</form>
);
}
Click here for an example using the vanilla client directly.

The types are automatically generated from your FastAPI’s OpenAPI schema, ensuring that any changes to your API are reflected in your frontend code after a build.

If your FastAPI uses Custom authentication (Lambda Authorizer), you will need to edit the generated client provider to add the authorization headers your authorizer expects. Look for the fetch configuration in the generated <ApiName>Provider.tsx and add your token or API key to the request headers.