Admin User Interface

Code

The Code area is where you write and organize your application’s business logic. While the Schema area gives you a visual overview of types and relationships, the Code area focuses on what those types actually do – their methods, computed properties, and API configuration.

Working with the Code Area

The screen is divided into a navigation tree on the left and a context-sensitive editor on the right. The tree organizes your code by type: expand a type to see its properties, views, and methods. Click any item to edit it.

Here you also have access to user-defined functions (global utilities available throughout your application) and service classes (containers for business logic that does not belong to a specific type). The OpenAPI output is also available here, which is useful for verifying how your methods appear to API consumers.

The Navigation Tree

The tree contains the following sections:

User Defined Functions

This shows global functions in a table format – the same view that is available in the Schema area. These functions are callable from anywhere in your application.

OpenAPI

This section displays the OpenAPI specification for your application. The specification is also exposed as a public endpoint that external consumers can access to discover and interact with your APIs. It serves as the authoritative reference for all API endpoints defined in your application, documenting available methods, their parameters, and expected responses.

Types

This lists all your custom types and service classes. Expand a type to see its contents:

• Direct Properties – Properties defined on this type
• Linked Properties – Properties from relationships
• Views – Property sets for different contexts (API responses, UI display)
• Methods – The business logic attached to this type
• Inherited Properties – Properties from parent types or traits

This structure mirrors what you see in the Schema type editor, but it is organized for code navigation rather than visual modeling.

Services

This is a category under Types for service classes. Service classes can only contain methods, not properties. They are useful for grouping related business logic that does not belong to a specific data type – things like report generators, external integrations, or utility functions.

The Method Editor

Click any method to open the editor.

Writing Code

The editor is based on Monaco (the same engine as VS Code), with syntax highlighting for JavaScript and StructrScript, autocompletion, and all the features you would expect from a modern code editor.

At the bottom of the screen, a settings dropdown lets you configure the editor to your preferences: word wrap, indentation style, tab size, code folding, and more.

Method Configuration

Above the editor, several options control how the method behaves:

Method is static

This means the method can be called without an object instance – it is a class-level function rather than an instance method.

Not callable via HTTP

This hides the method from the REST API. Use it for internal utilities that should not be exposed.

Wrap JavaScript in main

This wraps your code in a main function, which affects scoping and is sometimes needed for compatibility.

Return result object only

This strips metadata from the response, returning just the result.

HTTP verb dropdown

This specifies which HTTP method triggers this function when called via REST API: GET for read operations, POST for creating things, PUT for updates, DELETE for removals.

Testing Your Code

For static methods, a Run Dialog button appears in the action bar alongside Save, Revert, and Delete. Click it to open a testing interface where you can enter parameters and execute the method immediately. The return value displays in the dialog, making it easy to test and debug without leaving the editor.

API Tab

Here you can define typed parameters for your method. Structr validates incoming requests against these definitions before your code runs, catching type mismatches and missing required parameters automatically. This also generates OpenAPI documentation.

Usage Tab

This shows how to call the method from different contexts: JavaScript, StructrScript, and REST API. The examples use your actual method name and parameters, so you can copy them directly into your code.

Searching Your Code

The search field in the secondary menu searches across all code in your application – schema methods, user-defined functions, and service classes. This is invaluable when you need to find where something is defined or used.

Note that the search does not include page content. For that, use the Pages area.

Two Views, One Model

The Code area and Schema area are two perspectives on the same underlying data. Changes you make in one immediately appear in the other.

Use the Schema area when you are thinking about structure – what types exist, how they relate to each other, what properties they have. Use the Code area when you are thinking about behavior – what methods do, how they are implemented, how they are called.