Webapper

Webapper is a term used in software development to describe a component or library that wraps a web service or API, exposing a higher-level, domain-specific interface instead of raw HTTP calls. The term is not standardized and its meaning varies by project, but it commonly denotes a client layer that abstracts request construction, authentication, error handling, and response parsing.

Typically, a webapper provides a base URL, manages credentials or tokens, and offers domain-oriented methods that map to API endpoints, such as getUser(id) or listOrders(params). It may also implement features such as pagination helpers, retry and timeout policies, rate limiting, caching, and logging. By encapsulating HTTP details, it aims to simplify usage, improve consistency, and reduce boilerplate across an application.

Design considerations include language and ecosystem alignment (for example, JavaScript/TypeScript clients for browser or Node.js, or Python clients for server-side use), testability, and security concerns around credential storage and token refresh. A well-designed webapper maintains clear error mapping, providing meaningful exceptions or error objects to callers.

Relation to other concepts: a webapper is closely related to an API wrapper, an SDK, or a client library, but a webapper often emphasizes a minimal, service-specific wrapper around raw HTTP APIs rather than a full-featured SDK. The term tends to appear in internal project discussions, company product pages, or informal documentation rather than as a formal standard.

See also API wrapper, client library, SDK, and web service wrapper.