Common Use Cases
This guide provides practical examples and patterns for integrating the Memberstack Admin REST API into your applications. These real-world examples demonstrate how to solve common challenges and implement effective member management strategies.
Before You Start
- Complete the Quick Start guide
- Familiarize yourself with the Member Actions and Verification documentation
- Have a basic understanding of server-side programming and API integration
Server-side Integration
Best practices for integrating the Memberstack Admin REST API with your server-side applications.
Creating a Reusable API Client
Instead of making direct API calls in multiple places, create a reusable client that handles authentication, error handling, and common operations:
Benefits of a reusable API client:
- Centralizes authentication and error handling
- Provides consistent interface across your application
- Makes it easier to implement optimizations like caching
- Simplifies testing and mocking in your applications
- Reduces code duplication and maintenance effort
Express.js Integration
Here's how to integrate the Memberstack API with an Express.js application using middleware for authentication:
Next.js API Routes
Integrating with Next.js API routes for server-side operations:
Important Security Considerations
- Never expose your Admin API endpoints publicly without authentication
- Implement proper authorization checks for admin-only actions
- Consider using a more restrictive CORS policy in production
- Add rate limiting to your API routes to prevent abuse
Data Synchronization
Keep your application database in sync with Memberstack data.
Syncing Member Data to Your Database
Many applications need to store member data in their own database for performance, querying, or to add additional custom fields. Here's an example of syncing member data:
Tips for data synchronization:
- Consider incremental syncs (changed members only) for better performance
- Implement retry logic with exponential backoff for API failures
- Use database transactions for atomic updates
- Log sync activities for debugging and audit purposes
- Consider using webhooks (when available) for real-time updates
Change Detection
To optimize synchronization, implement a change detection strategy by tracking the last sync time and only updating changed records:
The current Memberstack API doesn't include an updatedAt field or provide filtering
by modification date. The example above is a simplified approach that only checks creation
dates. For a more robust solution, you might need to:
- Store a hash of each member's data to detect changes
- Implement a webhook handler to receive real-time updates
- Periodically perform full syncs to catch any missed changes
Bulk Operations
Efficiently manage multiple members using the Admin REST API.
Batch Processing Members
When you need to process many members, such as adding a plan to everyone in a specific group, use an efficient batch processing approach:
Rate Limit Management
Remember that the Memberstack API has a rate limit of 25 requests per second. The following strategies can help you avoid hitting this limit:
- Process operations in smaller batches (5-10 at a time)
- Add delays between batches and API calls
- Implement exponential backoff for retry logic
- Run bulk operations during off-peak hours
- Monitor API response times and adjust batch sizes dynamically
Error Recovery in Bulk Operations
When processing large numbers of members, it's important to handle errors gracefully and provide recovery options:
Next Steps
Now that you've explored common use cases, you might want to check out:
Need Help?
Having trouble getting your login working? We're here to help!