API Reference

Complete reference documentation for the nestjs-openapi public API.

Primary API

The main exports you'll use in most projects:

Export	Description
`generate()`	Generate OpenAPI spec (JSON or YAML) from config file
`defineConfig()`	Type-safe configuration helper
`OpenApiModule`	NestJS module for runtime serving

Quick Example

// openapi.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'nestjs-openapi';

export default defineConfig({
  output: 'openapi.json',
  files: {
    entry: 'src/app.module.ts',
  },
  openapi: {
    info: {
      title: 'My API',
      version: '1.0.0',
    },
  },
});

// Generate programmatically
import { generate } from 'nestjs-openapi';

const result = await generate('./openapi.config.ts');
console.log(`Generated ${result.operationCount} operations`);

// Serve at runtime
import { OpenApiModule } from 'nestjs-openapi';

@Module({
  imports: [
    OpenApiModule.forRoot({
      filePath: 'openapi.json',
      serveSwaggerUi: true,
    }),
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

Types

Configuration and OpenAPI spec types:

Type	Description
`Config`	Main configuration interface
`FilesConfig`	Input file configuration
`OpenApiConfig`	OpenAPI metadata configuration
`OptionsConfig`	Generation options
`SecurityConfig`	Security scheme configuration
`OpenApiSpec`	Generated OpenAPI specification

Validation Utilities

Helpers for broken $ref detection and reporting:

Export	Description
`validateSpec()`	Detect broken `$ref`s in a spec
`formatValidationResult()`	Format a validation summary for output
`categorizeBrokenRefs()`	Group missing refs by likely cause

Errors

Typed error classes for error handling:

Error	Description
`ConfigNotFoundError`	Config file not found
`ConfigLoadError`	Failed to load config
`ConfigValidationError`	Invalid configuration
`ProjectInitError`	TypeScript project init failed
`EntryNotFoundError`	Entry module not found

Advanced API

For advanced use cases and Effect-TS integration:

import {
  generateEffect,
  generateAsync,
  type GenerateOptions,
} from 'nestjs-openapi';

See Advanced: Effect API for details.

Import Paths

All exports are available from the main package:

// Primary API
import { generate, defineConfig, OpenApiModule } from 'nestjs-openapi';

// Types
import type { Config, OpenApiSpec } from 'nestjs-openapi';

// Errors
import { ConfigNotFoundError, EntryNotFoundError } from 'nestjs-openapi';

// Module injection tokens
import { OPENAPI_SPEC, OPENAPI_MODULE_OPTIONS } from 'nestjs-openapi';