no-external-api-calls-in-utils

Report a network call made inside a utility module. A helper that reaches the network cannot be tested, reused or run offline without it; the client belongs in a service, or is passed in.

This rule is part of eslint-plugin-modularity.

Quick SummaryCopy Anchor Link

Rule DetailsCopy Anchor Link

In a utility file, the rule reports a call whose callee resolves, by its binding, to an HTTP client:

• the global fetch, also written globalThis.fetch / window.fetch;
• a value imported or required from one of httpModules (axios, got, ky, node-fetch, undici, superagent, needle, phin, http, https, http2, with or without the node: prefix), called directly (axios(config)) or through one of networkMethods (axios.get(url), axios['post'](url), https.get(url));
• a client derived from one by a const (const api = axios.create(), then api.get(url)).

It does not report:

• a client passed in as a parameter. Injecting the client is the fix this rule suggests, so function load(url, fetch) { return fetch(url); } and function load(url, axios) { return axios.get(url); } are not findings, even when an import of the same name exists in an outer scope;
• other methods of a client (axios.create(), axios.isAxiosError(e)), a Map#get, or a function imported from a module that is not an HTTP client (lodash's get);
• a test file (*.test.*, *.spec.*) while ignoreInTests is true;
• any file outside utilityPatterns.

An undeclared identifier spelled like a client module (axios.get(url) with no import in the file) is still reported, for the CDN global it most often is.

ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

ExamplesCopy Anchor Link

❌ IncorrectCopy Anchor Link

// src/utils/user.ts
import axios from 'axios';

export async function loadUser(id: string) {
  const { data } = await axios.get(`/api/users/${id}`);
  return data;
}

export const ping = () => fetch('/health');

✅ CorrectCopy Anchor Link

// src/utils/user.ts: the client is passed in
export async function loadUser(id: string, http: { get(url: string): Promise<{ data: unknown }> }) {
  const { data } = await http.get(`/api/users/${id}`);
  return data;
}

// src/services/user-service.ts: services own the network
import axios from 'axios';
export const loadUser = (id: string) => axios.get(`/api/users/${id}`);

Configuration ExamplesCopy Anchor Link

// eslint.config.mjs
export default [
  {
    rules: {
      'modularity/no-external-api-calls-in-utils': [
        'error',
        { utilityPatterns: ['**/shared/**'], networkMethods: ['get', 'post', 'apiClient.get'] },
      ],
    },
  },
];

Related RulesCopy Anchor Link

• no-mutable-exports - Keep module interfaces stable

Known False NegativesCopy Anchor Link

• A wrapper the rule cannot trace (import { http } from './http', an in-house client) is not recognised; name it in networkMethods as 'http.get'.
• A client destructured from an import (const { get } = axios) is not followed.

Use this rule

npm install -D oxlint-plugin-modularity

{  "jsPlugins": ["oxlint-plugin-modularity"],  "rules": {    "modularity/no-external-api-calls-in-utils": "error"  }}

import { defineConfig } from 'vite-plus';export default defineConfig({  lint: {    jsPlugins: ['oxlint-plugin-modularity'],    rules: {      'modularity/no-external-api-calls-in-utils': 'error',    },  },});