Phoenix Api Channels

What it does

This skill provides guidance and assistance for developing APIs using Phoenix, a web framework built on Elixir and the BEAM virtual machine. It enables AI agents to understand and work with Phoenix's features for building REST/JSON APIs and WebSocket Channels, including controllers, contexts (data ownership), PubSub for real-time updates, presence tracking, authentication via plugs, routing, and pipelines. The skill helps developers leverage Phoenix’s architecture for fault tolerance and efficient process management.

When to use it

• When needing assistance with setting up a new Phoenix API project.
• For guidance on structuring controllers, contexts, and channels within a Phoenix application.
• To understand how to implement authentication (session/cookie or token-based) in your APIs.
• When building real-time features using Channels and PubSub.
• To troubleshoot routing and pipeline configurations for API versioning.

Key capabilities

• REST/JSON API Development: Guidance on creating controllers, pipelines, and versioned endpoints.
• WebSocket Channels & Presence: Support for fan-out real-time updates and user tracking.
• Authentication: Assistance with session/cookie or token-based authentication using plugs.
• Contexts & Data Ownership: Understanding how to structure data logic within contexts (using Ecto schemas).
• Routing and Pipelines: Configuration of API routes, versioning scopes, and request pipelines.

Example prompts

• "How do I create a new Phoenix project with only the API functionality?"
• "Can you show me an example of how to implement token-based authentication in a Phoenix controller?"
• "Explain how PubSub works within a Phoenix Channel."
• “What is the purpose of the MyApiWeb.Router module?”

Tips & gotchas

• Keep pipelines short and move authentication/authorization logic into plugs for efficiency.
• Expose sockets specifically for Channels, restricting transport methods as needed.
• Controllers should remain thin; delegate data logic to contexts.