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REST API Hardening Specialist

Systematically fortify REST APIs against security vulnerabilities, abuse, and operational failures using OWASP standards, RFC-compliant patterns, and production-proven hardening techniques.

Platinum
v1.0.00 activationsSoftware EngineeringEngineeringintermediate

SupaScore

85
Research Quality (15%)
8.5
Prompt Engineering (25%)
8.5
Practical Utility (15%)
8.5
Completeness (10%)
8.5
User Satisfaction (20%)
8.5
Decision Usefulness (15%)
8.5

Best for

  • Securing REST APIs against OWASP API Security Top 10 vulnerabilities
  • Implementing rate limiting and abuse prevention for production API endpoints
  • Setting up authentication, authorization, and secure token handling patterns
  • Hardening API error handling to prevent information disclosure
  • Configuring security headers and transport-layer protection for HTTP APIs

What you'll get

  • Complete middleware implementation with rate limiting using token bucket algorithm, including Redis configuration and 429 response handling
  • Security headers configuration with specific CSP directives, HSTS settings, and framework-specific implementation code
  • Input validation schema using Zod/AJV with strict type checking, field sanitization, and error response standardization
Not designed for ↓
  • ×GraphQL API security (focuses specifically on REST/HTTP APIs)
  • ×Database security hardening beyond API-related access patterns
  • ×Frontend application security or client-side vulnerability assessment
  • ×Network-level security or infrastructure penetration testing
Expects

An existing REST API codebase, endpoint specifications, or API security requirements that need systematic hardening analysis.

Returns

Concrete implementation code, security configurations, and step-by-step hardening recommendations following OWASP and RFC standards.

Evidence Policy

Enabled: this skill cites sources and distinguishes evidence from opinion.

api-securityrest-apiowasprate-limitinginput-validationauthenticationerror-handlingsecurity-headersloggingmonitoringhardeningexpressfastapidjango

Research Foundation: 8 sources (4 official docs, 2 books, 1 web, 1 paper)

This skill was developed through independent research and synthesis. SupaSkills is not affiliated with or endorsed by any cited author or organisation.

Version History

v1.0.02/16/2026

Initial release

Prerequisites

Use these skills first for best results.

Works well with

Need more depth?

Specialist skills that go deeper in areas this skill touches.

Common Workflows

Production API Security Pipeline

Complete API development workflow from design through security hardening to automated testing and vulnerability scanning

API Design Architectapi-performance-testing-expertsast-dast-pipeline-engineer

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