Step by Step Guide to Building a Fastly API Integration in JS

Introduction

Hey there, fellow developer! Ready to supercharge your content delivery with Fastly? In this guide, we'll walk through building a robust Fastly API integration using JavaScript. Fastly's API is a powerhouse for managing your CDN, and we're about to harness that power. Let's dive in!

Prerequisites

Before we start coding, make sure you've got:

• A Fastly account with an API key (if you don't have one, go grab it from your account settings)
• Node.js installed on your machine
• Your favorite code editor ready to roll

Setting up the project

Let's kick things off by setting up our project:

mkdir fastly-api-integration
cd fastly-api-integration
npm init -y
npm install fastly

Authentication

First things first, let's authenticate with Fastly:

const fastly = require('fastly');

const client = fastly('YOUR_API_KEY');

Pro tip: Never hardcode your API key. Use environment variables instead!

Basic API Operations

Now that we're authenticated, let's flex those API muscles:

Fetching service details

client.getService('SERVICE_ID', (err, service) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(service);
});

Listing domains

client.listDomains('SERVICE_ID', (err, domains) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(domains);
});

Managing backends

client.createBackend('SERVICE_ID', 'VERSION', {
  name: 'my_backend',
  address: 'backend.example.com',
  port: 80
}, (err, backend) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(backend);
});

Working with VCL

VCL is where the magic happens. Let's play with it:

Retrieving VCL

client.getVcl('SERVICE_ID', 'VERSION', 'VCL_NAME', (err, vcl) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(vcl.content);
});

Updating VCL

client.updateVcl('SERVICE_ID', 'VERSION', 'VCL_NAME', {
  content: 'your updated VCL content here'
}, (err, updatedVcl) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('VCL updated successfully');
});

Activating a new version

client.activateVersion('SERVICE_ID', 'VERSION', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('Version activated!');
});

Purging content

Keep your content fresh:

Purging individual URLs

client.purge('https://example.com/path', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('URL purged');
});

Purging by surrogate key

client.purgeKey('SERVICE_ID', 'my-surrogate-key', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('Surrogate key purged');
});

Real-time stats and logging

Let's get some insights:

Fetching real-time stats

client.getStats('SERVICE_ID', {
  from: '2 hours ago',
  to: 'now',
  by: 'minute'
}, (err, stats) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(stats);
});

Configuring logging endpoints

client.createLogS3('SERVICE_ID', 'VERSION', {
  name: 'my-s3-logs',
  bucket_name: 'my-log-bucket',
  access_key: 'S3_ACCESS_KEY',
  secret_key: 'S3_SECRET_KEY'
}, (err, logConfig) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('S3 logging configured');
});

Error handling and best practices

Always handle your errors gracefully and respect those rate limits:

client.getService('SERVICE_ID', (err, service) => {
  if (err) {
    if (err.status === 429) {
      console.log('Whoa there! We hit a rate limit. Let\'s take a breather.');
      // Implement retry logic here
    } else {
      console.error('Oops! Something went wrong:', err.message);
    }
    return;
  }
  console.log(service);
});

Advanced topics

Want to level up? Check out these advanced features:

• Streaming logs in real-time
• Creating and managing custom VCL snippets
• Utilizing edge dictionaries for dynamic configurations

Conclusion

And there you have it! You're now equipped to build a robust Fastly API integration. Remember, the Fastly API is incredibly powerful, so don't be afraid to explore and experiment. The sky's the limit!

For more in-depth information, check out the Fastly API documentation.

Happy coding, and may your content always be blazing fast! 🚀

Code repository

Find the complete example code for this guide on our GitHub repository.