Api Security Hardening

This is a solid foundation for locking down REST APIs with all the essentials in one place: authentication with JWT, rate limiting, helmet for security headers, input sanitization against XSS and NoSQL injection, and proper CORS configuration. You get reference implementations for Node.js/Express, Python FastAPI, and API gateway setups. Use this when you're hardening an existing API before going to production or building a new one that needs to pass a security audit from day one. The quick start example pulls together the usual suspects (helmet, express-rate-limit, xss-clean) so you don't have to remember which npm packages to combine. It won't write your security policy for you, but it handles the technical implementation of common defenses.

skills.sh installs: 868
GitHub stars: 379
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill api-security-hardening --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Overview

Implement comprehensive API security measures including authentication, authorization, rate limiting, input validation, and attack prevention to protect against common vulnerabilities.

When to Use

New API development
Security audit remediation
Production API hardening
Compliance requirements
High-traffic API protection
Public API exposure

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

// secure-api.js - Comprehensive API security
const express = require("express");
const helmet = require("helmet");
const rateLimit = require("express-rate-limit");
const mongoSanitize = require("express-mongo-sanitize");
const xss = require("xss-clean");
const hpp = require("hpp");
const cors = require("cors");
const jwt = require("jsonwebtoken");
const validator = require("validator");

class SecureAPIServer {
  constructor() {
    this.app = express();
    this.setupSecurityMiddleware();
    this.setupRoutes();
  }

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