Name: Appfolio Local Dev Loop
Author: jeremylongshore

Overview

Local development workflow for AppFolio property management API integration. Provides a fast feedback loop with mock property, tenant, and lease endpoints so you can build and test integrations without consuming live API quota. Toggle between mock mode for rapid iteration and sandbox mode for pre-deployment validation against the real AppFolio Stack API.

Environment Setup

cp .env.example .env
# Set your credentials:
# APPFOLIO_API_KEY=af_live_xxxxxxxxxxxx
# APPFOLIO_BASE_URL=https://api.appfolio.com/api/v1
# MOCK_MODE=true
npm install express axios dotenv tsx typescript @types/node
npm install -D vitest supertest @types/express

Dev Server

// src/dev/server.ts
import express from "express";
import { createProxyMiddleware } from "http-proxy-middleware";
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());
const MOCK = process.env.MOCK_MODE === "true";
if (!MOCK) {
  app.use("/api/v1", createProxyMiddleware({
    target: process.env.APPFOLIO_BASE_URL,
    changeOrigin: true,
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.APPFOLIO_API_KEY}` },
  }));
} else {
  const { mountMockRoutes } = require("./mocks");
  mountMockRoutes(app);
}
app.listen(3001, () => console.log(`AppFolio dev server on :3001 [mock=${MOCK}]`));

Overview

Environment Setup

cp .env.example .env
# Set your credentials:
# APPFOLIO_API_KEY=af_live_xxxxxxxxxxxx
# APPFOLIO_BASE_URL=https://api.appfolio.com/api/v1
# MOCK_MODE=true
npm install express axios dotenv tsx typescript @types/node
npm install -D vitest supertest @types/express

Dev Server

// src/dev/server.ts
import express from "express";
import { createProxyMiddleware } from "http-proxy-middleware";
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());
const MOCK = process.env.MOCK_MODE === "true";
if (!MOCK) {
  app.use("/api/v1", createProxyMiddleware({
    target: process.env.APPFOLIO_BASE_URL,
    changeOrigin: true,
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.APPFOLIO_API_KEY}` },
  }));
} else {
  const { mountMockRoutes } = require("./mocks");
  mountMockRoutes(app);
}
app.listen(3001, () => console.log(`AppFolio dev server on :3001 [mock=${MOCK}]`));

Issue	Cause	Fix
`401 Unauthorized`	Invalid or expired API key	Regenerate at AppFolio Stack portal
`403 Forbidden`	Key lacks scope for endpoint	Request additional permissions
`404 Not Found`	Wrong property ID or path	Verify resource exists in sandbox
`429 Too Many Requests`	Rate limit exceeded	Add exponential backoff, use mock mode
`ECONNREFUSED :3001`	Dev server not running	Run `npm run dev:mock` first

Appfolio Local Dev Loop

Overview

Environment Setup

Dev Server

Appfolio Local Dev Loop

Overview

Environment Setup

Dev Server

Mock Mode

Testing Workflow

Debug Tips

Error Handling

Resources

Next Steps

Liquid Glass Design

Compose Multiplatform Patterns

Foundation Models On Device

Swiftui Patterns

Foundation Models On Device

Swiftui Patterns