jeremylongshore

replit-known-pitfalls

@jeremylongshore/replit-known-pitfalls
jeremylongshore
1,004
123 forks
Updated 1/18/2026
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Identify and avoid Replit anti-patterns and common integration mistakes. Use when reviewing Replit code for issues, onboarding new developers, or auditing existing Replit integrations for best practices violations. Trigger with phrases like "replit mistakes", "replit anti-patterns", "replit pitfalls", "replit what not to do", "replit code review".

Installation

$skills install @jeremylongshore/replit-known-pitfalls
Claude Code
Cursor
Copilot
Codex
Antigravity

Details

Pathplugins/saas-packs/replit-pack/skills/replit-known-pitfalls/SKILL.md
Branchmain
Scoped Name@jeremylongshore/replit-known-pitfalls

Usage

After installing, this skill will be available to your AI coding assistant.

Verify installation:

skills list

Skill Instructions


name: replit-known-pitfalls description: | Identify and avoid Replit anti-patterns and common integration mistakes. Use when reviewing Replit code for issues, onboarding new developers, or auditing existing Replit integrations for best practices violations. Trigger with phrases like "replit mistakes", "replit anti-patterns", "replit pitfalls", "replit what not to do", "replit code review". allowed-tools: Read, Grep version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io

Replit Known Pitfalls

Overview

Common mistakes and anti-patterns when integrating with Replit.

Prerequisites

  • Access to Replit codebase for review
  • Understanding of async/await patterns
  • Knowledge of security best practices
  • Familiarity with rate limiting concepts

Pitfall #1: Synchronous API Calls in Request Path

❌ Anti-Pattern

// User waits for Replit API call
app.post('/checkout', async (req, res) => {
  const payment = await replitClient.processPayment(req.body);  // 2-5s latency
  const notification = await replitClient.sendEmail(payment);   // Another 1-2s
  res.json({ success: true });  // User waited 3-7s
});

✅ Better Approach

// Return immediately, process async
app.post('/checkout', async (req, res) => {
  const jobId = await queue.enqueue('process-checkout', req.body);
  res.json({ jobId, status: 'processing' });  // 50ms response
});

// Background job
async function processCheckout(data) {
  const payment = await replitClient.processPayment(data);
  await replitClient.sendEmail(payment);
}

Pitfall #2: Not Handling Rate Limits

❌ Anti-Pattern

// Blast requests, crash on 429
for (const item of items) {
  await replitClient.process(item);  // Will hit rate limit
}

✅ Better Approach

import pLimit from 'p-limit';

const limit = pLimit(5);  // Max 5 concurrent
const rateLimiter = new RateLimiter({ tokensPerSecond: 10 });

for (const item of items) {
  await rateLimiter.acquire();
  await limit(() => replitClient.process(item));
}

Pitfall #3: Leaking API Keys

❌ Anti-Pattern

// In frontend code (visible to users!)
const client = new ReplitClient({
  apiKey: 'sk_live_ACTUAL_KEY_HERE',  // Anyone can see this
});

// In git history
git commit -m "add API key"  // Exposed forever

✅ Better Approach

// Backend only, environment variable
const client = new ReplitClient({
  apiKey: process.env.REPLIT_API_KEY,
});

// Use .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

Pitfall #4: Ignoring Idempotency

❌ Anti-Pattern

// Network error on response = duplicate charge!
try {
  await replitClient.charge(order);
} catch (error) {
  if (error.code === 'NETWORK_ERROR') {
    await replitClient.charge(order);  // Charged twice!
  }
}

✅ Better Approach

const idempotencyKey = `order-${order.id}-${Date.now()}`;

await replitClient.charge(order, {
  idempotencyKey,  // Safe to retry
});

Pitfall #5: Not Validating Webhooks

❌ Anti-Pattern

// Trust any incoming request
app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => {
  processWebhook(req.body);  // Attacker can send fake events
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

✅ Better Approach

app.post('/webhook',
  express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }),
  (req, res) => {
    const signature = req.headers['x-replit-signature'];
    if (!verifyReplitSignature(req.body, signature)) {
      return res.sendStatus(401);
    }
    processWebhook(JSON.parse(req.body));
    res.sendStatus(200);
  }
);

Pitfall #6: Missing Error Handling

❌ Anti-Pattern

// Crashes on any error
const result = await replitClient.get(id);
console.log(result.data.nested.value);  // TypeError if missing

✅ Better Approach

try {
  const result = await replitClient.get(id);
  console.log(result?.data?.nested?.value ?? 'default');
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof ReplitNotFoundError) {
    return null;
  }
  if (error instanceof ReplitRateLimitError) {
    await sleep(error.retryAfter);
    return this.get(id);  // Retry
  }
  throw error;  // Rethrow unknown errors
}

Pitfall #7: Hardcoding Configuration

❌ Anti-Pattern

const client = new ReplitClient({
  timeout: 5000,  // Too short for some operations
  baseUrl: 'https://api.replit.com',  // Can't change for staging
});

✅ Better Approach

const client = new ReplitClient({
  timeout: parseInt(process.env.REPLIT_TIMEOUT || '30000'),
  baseUrl: process.env.REPLIT_BASE_URL || 'https://api.replit.com',
});

Pitfall #8: Not Implementing Circuit Breaker

❌ Anti-Pattern

// When Replit is down, every request hangs
for (const user of users) {
  await replitClient.sync(user);  // All timeout sequentially
}

✅ Better Approach

import CircuitBreaker from 'opossum';

const breaker = new CircuitBreaker(replitClient.sync, {
  timeout: 10000,
  errorThresholdPercentage: 50,
  resetTimeout: 30000,
});

// Fails fast when circuit is open
for (const user of users) {
  await breaker.fire(user).catch(handleFailure);
}

Pitfall #9: Logging Sensitive Data

❌ Anti-Pattern

console.log('Request:', JSON.stringify(request));  // Logs API key, PII
console.log('User:', user);  // Logs email, phone

✅ Better Approach

const redacted = {
  ...request,
  apiKey: '[REDACTED]',
  user: { id: user.id },  // Only non-sensitive fields
};
console.log('Request:', JSON.stringify(redacted));

Pitfall #10: No Graceful Degradation

❌ Anti-Pattern

// Entire feature broken if Replit is down
const recommendations = await replitClient.getRecommendations(userId);
return renderPage({ recommendations });  // Page crashes

✅ Better Approach

let recommendations;
try {
  recommendations = await replitClient.getRecommendations(userId);
} catch (error) {
  recommendations = await getFallbackRecommendations(userId);
  reportDegradedService('replit', error);
}
return renderPage({ recommendations, degraded: !recommendations });

Instructions

Step 1: Review for Anti-Patterns

Scan codebase for each pitfall pattern.

Step 2: Prioritize Fixes

Address security issues first, then performance.

Step 3: Implement Better Approach

Replace anti-patterns with recommended patterns.

Step 4: Add Prevention

Set up linting and CI checks to prevent recurrence.

Output

  • Anti-patterns identified
  • Fixes prioritized and implemented
  • Prevention measures in place
  • Code quality improved

Error Handling

IssueCauseSolution
Too many findingsLegacy codebasePrioritize security first
Pattern not detectedComplex codeManual review
False positiveSimilar codeWhitelist exceptions
Fix breaks testsBehavior changeUpdate tests

Examples

Quick Pitfall Scan

# Check for common pitfalls
grep -r "sk_live_" --include="*.ts" src/        # Key leakage
grep -r "console.log" --include="*.ts" src/     # Potential PII logging

Resources

Quick Reference Card

PitfallDetectionPrevention
Sync in requestHigh latencyUse queues
Rate limit ignore429 errorsImplement backoff
Key leakageGit history scanEnv vars, .gitignore
No idempotencyDuplicate recordsIdempotency keys
Unverified webhooksSecurity auditSignature verification
Missing error handlingCrashesTry-catch, types
Hardcoded configCode reviewEnvironment variables
No circuit breakerCascading failuresopossum, resilience4j
Logging PIILog auditRedaction middleware
No degradationTotal outagesFallback systems

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