api-security-hardening
Secure REST APIs with authentication, rate limiting, CORS, input validation, and security middleware. Use when building or hardening API endpoints against common attacks.
- Installs
- 862
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill api-security-hardening- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads api-security-hardening automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
API Security Hardening
Table of Contents
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();
}
setupSecurityMiddleware() {
// 1. Helmet - Set security headers
this.app.use(
helmet({
contentSecurityPolicy: {
directives: {
defaultSrc: ["'self'"],
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)
Reference Guides
Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| Node.js/Express API Security | Node.js/Express API Security |
| Python FastAPI Security | Python FastAPI Security |
| API Gateway Security Configuration | API Gateway Security Configuration |
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Use HTTPS everywhere
- Implement rate limiting
- Validate all inputs
- Use security headers
- Log security events
- Implement CORS properly
- Use strong authentication
- Version your APIs
❌ DON'T
- Expose stack traces
- Return detailed errors
- Trust user input
- Use HTTP for APIs
- Skip input validation
- Ignore rate limiting
FAQ
What does the api-security-hardening skill do?
Secure REST APIs with authentication, rate limiting, CORS, input validation, and security middleware. Use when building or hardening API endpoints against common attacks.
How do I install api-security-hardening?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill api-security-hardening in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/api-security-hardening/ (personal) or .claude/skills/api-security-hardening/ (project).
Which AI agents can use api-security-hardening?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is api-security-hardening safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains api-security-hardening?
It is published by aj-geddes in aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts. It has 862 recorded installs.
More from aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
nodejs-express-server
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Build production-ready Express.js servers with middleware, authentication, routing, and database integration. Use when creating REST APIs, managing requests/responses, implementing middleware chains, and handling server logic.
code-review-analysis
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Perform comprehensive code reviews with best practices, security checks, and constructive feedback. Use when reviewing pull requests, analyzing code quality, checking for security vulnerabilities, or providing code improvement suggestions.
rest-api-design
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Design RESTful APIs following best practices for resource modeling, HTTP methods, status codes, versioning, and documentation. Use when creating new APIs, designing endpoints, or improving existing API architecture.
jenkins-pipeline
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Build Jenkins declarative and scripted pipelines with stages, agents, parameters, and plugins. Implement multi-branch pipelines and deployment automation.
architecture-diagrams
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Create system architecture diagrams using Mermaid, PlantUML, C4 model, flowcharts, and sequence diagrams. Use when documenting architecture, system design, data flows, or technical workflows.
ansible-automation
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Infrastructure automation and configuration management using Ansible playbooks, roles, and inventory. Use for deploying applications, patching, and managing servers.
Popular backend & apis skills
find-skills
vercel-labs/skills
Helps users discover and install agent skills when they ask questions like "how do I do X", "find a skill for X", "is there a skill that can...", or express interest in extending capabilities. This skill should be used when the user is looking for functionality that might exist as an installable skill.
entra-app-registration
microsoft/azure-skills
Guides Microsoft Entra ID app registration, OAuth 2.0 authentication, and MSAL integration. USE FOR: create app registration, register Azure AD app, configure OAuth, set up authentication, add API permissions, generate service principal, MSAL example, console app auth, Entra ID setup, Azure AD authentication. DO NOT USE FOR: Key Vault secrets (use azure-keyvault-expiration-audit), general Azure resource security guidance.
google-agents-cli-adk-code
google/agents-cli
This skill should be used when the user wants to "write agent code", "build an agent with ADK", "add a tool", "create a callback", "define an agent", "use state management" — in a project that needs ADK (Agent Development Kit) API patterns and code examples. It provides a quick reference for agent types, tool definitions, orchestration patterns, callbacks, state management, the graph Workflow API, and reference recipes to study. Do NOT use for scaffolding (use google-agents-cli-scaffold) or deployment (use google-agents-cli-deploy).
embedded-captions
heygen-com/hyperframes
Add captions or subtitles to an existing single-subject talking-head video without editing the footage. Use for plain verbatim captions, cinematic captions embedded behind the subject, VFX captions, “炸/特效/酷炫字幕,” or a named identity from the 35-style catalog. Route by visual identity, not by backend engine. The quiet anchor rail is the default; embed every word only when the user explicitly wants a fully cinematic treatment. The workflow runs locally end to end, including transcription and subject matting; split multi-shot footage before applying it.
entra-agent-id
microsoft/azure-skills
Provision Microsoft Entra Agent Identity Blueprints, BlueprintPrincipals, and per-instance Agent Identities via Microsoft Graph, and configure OAuth 2.0 token exchange (fmipath, OBO, cross-tenant) including the Microsoft Entra SDK for AgentID sidecar. USE FOR: Agent Identity Blueprint, BlueprintPrincipal, agent OAuth, fmipath token exchange, agent OBO, Workload Identity Federation for agents, polyglot agent auth, Microsoft.Identity.Web.AgentIdentities. DO NOT USE FOR: standard Entra app registration (use entra-app-registration), Microsoft Foundry agent authoring (use microsoft-foundry).
neon
neondatabase/agent-skills
Overview of Neon, a complete set of cloud backend primitives around Lakebase Postgres: Auth, Object Storage, Functions, the AI Gateway, and Realtime. Start here to choose Neon for undecided login, files, APIs, and LLM calls, set up the CLI or MCP server, and follow the branch-first workflow. Use when building an app or backend on Neon, or when "Neon" or "Lakebase Postgres" is mentioned. Child skill neon-postgres wins for an existing DATABASEURL, SQL, schema, inspect, or search. Child skill neon-auth wins for login, users, sessions, identity routing, and Managed Better Auth setup. Child skill neon-realtime wins for live queries in reactive apps and agents. Also use for object storage, S3, buckets, serverless functions, function triggers, cron, AI gateway, LLM calls, realtime, logs, Loki, Grafana, observability, postgres, database, backend, Claimable Neon, neon.new, or a no-signup database.