Intent API

One endpoint. Typed intents. Zero boilerplate.

Intent API is a constraint-driven API framework for Python. Instead of writing dozens of REST endpoints, you declare intents — structured requests that describe what the caller wants to do. The framework dispatches them to the right handler automatically.

POST /api/intent
{
  "model": "Todo",
  "action": "create",
  "payload": { "title": "Ship Intent API", "done": false },
  "context": { "type": "user", "team_id": "abc-123" }
}

Install

pip install intent-api

Quickstart

from fastapi import FastAPI
from intent_api import IntentRouter, IntentService, MutationResponse

app = FastAPI()

# 1. Define a service
class TodoService(IntentService):
    async def create(self, *, db, user, context, payload):
        # Your create logic here
        return MutationResponse(success=True, id="1", message="Todo created")

    async def list(self, *, db, user, context, skip, limit):
        return {"items": [], "total": 0}

# 2. Create router and register services
router = IntentRouter()
router.register("Todo", TodoService())

# 3. Build and include the FastAPI router
app.include_router(router.build(
    get_user=my_auth_dependency,  # Your auth function
    get_db=my_db_dependency,      # Your DB session function
))

That's it. One endpoint handles all CRUD + custom commands for every model.

Core Concepts

IntentRequest

Every API call is an IntentRequest:

IntentContext

Context tells the backend who is calling and what scope they're in:

{
    "type": "member",          # Role/surface type
    "team_id": "uuid-123",     # Team scope
    "organization_id": null,   # Org scope (optional)
}

IntentService

Subclass IntentService for each model. Override the methods you need:

class UserService(IntentService):
    async def create(self, *, db, user, context, payload):
        ...

    async def read(self, *, db, user, id, context):
        ...

    async def update(self, *, db, user, id, context, payload):
        ...

    async def delete(self, *, db, user, id, context):
        ...

    async def list(self, *, db, user, context, skip, limit):
        ...

    async def custom_action(self, *, db, user, context, command, id, payload):
        if command == "archive":
            return await self._archive(db=db, id=id)
        raise ValueError(f"Unknown command: {command}")

Custom Commands

Custom commands let you go beyond CRUD:

{
    "model": "Report",
    "action": "custom",
    "command": "export_csv",
    "payload": { "date_from": "2024-01-01", "date_to": "2024-12-31" }
}

Multiple Surfaces

Intent API supports multiple access levels from the same registry:

router = IntentRouter()
router.register("Todo", TodoService())
router.register("User", UserService())

# Standard: authenticated users
app.include_router(router.build(
    get_user=my_auth_dependency,
    get_db=get_db,
))

# Admin: requires additional authorization
app.include_router(router.build_admin(
    get_user=my_auth_dependency,
    get_db=get_db,
    authorize=lambda user, ctx: user.email.endswith("@mycompany.com"),
))

# Guest: unauthenticated, restricted actions
app.include_router(router.build_guest(
    get_db=get_db,
))

Guest Access Control

Mark services as guest-accessible:

class PublicFeedService(IntentService):
    is_guest_allowed = True
    allowed_guest_actions = ["list", "read"]

    async def list(self, *, db, user, context, skip, limit):
        # user will be None for guest requests
        return {"items": [...], "total": 10}

Auth Integration

Intent API is auth-agnostic. Provide your own get_user dependency:

# Example with Clerk
async def get_user(credentials, context, db):
    clerk_user_id = verify_clerk_token(credentials.credentials)
    return db.query(User).filter(User.clerk_id == clerk_user_id).first()

# Example with Auth0
async def get_user(credentials, context, db):
    payload = decode_auth0_token(credentials.credentials)
    return db.query(User).filter(User.auth0_id == payload["sub"]).first()

# Wire it up
app.include_router(router.build(get_user=get_user, get_db=get_db))

Why Intent API?

License

Copyright 2026 Chris Bora. All rights reserved.

Free for personal and evaluation use. Commercial use requires a license. See intentapi.dev/pricing for details.