Why Zlient?

You might be wondering: "Why do I need another HTTP client? What's wrong with fetch or axios?"

The Problem

1. fetch is too low-level

fetch is great, but it requires boilerplate for everything:

• Checking res.ok.
• Parsing JSON manually.
• Handling timeouts.
• Constructing query strings.

2. axios is huge and loosely typed

Axios is the industry standard, but:

• It adds significant bundle size.
• Its types are often any or require manual generic passing (e.g., axios.get<User>(...)).
• It trusts the server blindly. If the server returns data that doesn't match your TypeScript interface, your app crashes at runtime with cryptic errors.

The Zlient Solution

Zlient takes a different approach: Runtime Validation is not optional.

By forcing you to define a Zod schema for every endpoint, Zlient guarantees that if your code runs, your data is correct.

Comparison

Traditional (axios)

interface User { id: string; name: string; }

// ⚠️ Runtime Risk: API might return { id: 123 } (number)
// TypeScript won't catch this. Use defaults to "any" internally.
const { data } = await axios.get<User>('/users/1');

// 💥 Crash: data.id.toLowerCase() is not a function
console.log(data.id.toLowerCase());

Zlient Way

const getUser = client.createEndpoint({
  method: 'GET',
  path: '/users/1',
  // ✅ Runtime Safety: Zod validates the response before you see it
  response: z.object({ 
    id: z.string(), // Must be a string
    name: z.string() 
  })
});

// data is strictly typed as { id: string; name: string }
const data = await getUser({});

// ✅ Safe: We know id is a string
console.log(data.id.toLowerCase());

Key Benefits

1. Fail Fast: If the API changes, Zlient throws a clear validation error immediately. No more debugging "undefined is not a function" deep in your UI components.
2. Zero Boilerplate: No more if (!res.ok) throw new Error(...).
3. Standardized: Built-in logic for Retries, Timeouts, and Auth means every network call in your app behaves consistently.
4. Small: Built on top of fetch, so it's lightweight.