Observed Signal · Jun 25, 2026 · Technical Release · Source: DEV Community · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Colocate Your API Layer for Scalable Next.js Apps
This technical article describes a scalable pattern for Next.js App Router projects: colocating API functions inside each feature directory instead of a centralized services/ folder. The pattern was developed while building a production retail POS with Next.js 15, running separate Admin and Merchant dashboards across 30+ feature modules. Each feature exposes plain TypeScript async functions in api/index.ts and imports a single globally shared, typed Axios instance that centralizes baseURL, request token injection, and response-error handling. Role-aware TokenService resolves admin/merchant/user tokens from path-derived, namespaced cookies. Colocated modules integrate with React Query (useQuery/useQueries) as queryFn providers, keep shared utilities and types global, and reduce accidental coupling, namespace collisions, and dead code. The article details trade-offs (intentional duplication, discovery via grep) and offers concrete folder structures and code examples demonstrating date formatting, query building, and queryKey design for cache correctness.
Practical frontend architecture pattern that improves maintainability and scalability of large Next.js applications; useful to engineering teams but not industry-shifting.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Author identifies as a frontend engineer at MTN Nigeria.
- Pattern implemented on a production retail POS built with Next.js 15 App Router across Admin and Merchant dashboards and 30+ feature modules.
- API functions live inside feature directories as api/index.ts files exporting plain async TypeScript functions (GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE).
- A single globally shared typed Axios instance centralizes baseURL, request interceptor (Bearer token injection), and response interceptor (centralized error handling and session expiry redirects).
- Role-aware TokenService reads role-namespaced cookies (token-admin, token-merchant, token-user) using the URL path to resolve the active session token.
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1 Entity mapped“The one thing that stays global: a typed Axios instance...”
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