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Build on BackendFree

One REST API and a set of TypeScript packages for the content, bookings, payments and analytics behind a website, and what to read first.

Updated 16 October 2026 About 2 minutes View as Markdown

BackendFree keeps what sits behind a website: the pages its owner edits, the appointments, the payments and the visitor figures. The website itself stays yours, built with whatever you like and hosted wherever you like. It reads and writes through one REST API, and the TypeScript packages below wrap that API.

Where calls go

Every call goes to https://backendfree.com/api/v1, with a key in the Authorization header.

terminal
curl https://backendfree.com/api/v1/project \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_..."

No path names a website. The key says which project is asking, so one front end can serve more than one website by swapping the key.

Two kinds of key

A publishable key (pk_live_...) is safe in a web page: it reads published content, lists free times and takes a booking. A secret key (sk_live_...) also lists every booking, reads the payments and starts a checkout, so it belongs on a server only. Neither changes the content or the diary's setup, and neither refunds: those stay in the dashboard. Keys and allowed websites has the whole table.

The packages

Package For
@backendfree/core The client every other package is built on: keys, errors, caching, idempotent writes and verifying a webhook.
@backendfree/cms Published pages as the typed sections the owner edits, and knowing when to rebuild.
@backendfree/bookings Services, staff, free times and taking a booking, with a token the customer manages it by.
@backendfree/payments Taking a payment into the business's own account, from your own server with a secret key.
@backendfree/webanalytics Reporting page views from your own server, for the visitors and crawlers a script never sees.
@backendfree/inbox Sending a contact form's message to the website's inbox, past the spam checks, and reading them back.

Plain ES modules with no dependencies, so the same import works in a browser, on a server, in a build script and in a worker at the edge.

terminal
npm install @backendfree/core @backendfree/bookings

What to read next