---

name: clay-reference-architecture description: | Implement Clay reference architecture with best-practice project layout. Use when designing new Clay integrations, reviewing project structure, or establishing architecture standards for Clay applications. Trigger with phrases like "clay architecture", "clay best practices", "clay project structure", "how to organize clay", "clay layout". allowed-tools: Read, Grep version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io

Clay Reference Architecture

Overview

Production-ready architecture patterns for Clay integrations.

Prerequisites

• Understanding of layered architecture
• Clay SDK knowledge
• TypeScript project setup
• Testing framework configured

Project Structure

my-clay-project/
├── src/
│   ├── clay/
│   │   ├── client.ts           # Singleton client wrapper
│   │   ├── config.ts           # Environment configuration
│   │   ├── types.ts            # TypeScript types
│   │   ├── errors.ts           # Custom error classes
│   │   └── handlers/
│   │       ├── webhooks.ts     # Webhook handlers
│   │       └── events.ts       # Event processing
│   ├── services/
│   │   └── clay/
│   │       ├── index.ts        # Service facade
│   │       ├── sync.ts         # Data synchronization
│   │       └── cache.ts        # Caching layer
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── clay/
│   │       └── webhook.ts      # Webhook endpoint
│   └── jobs/
│       └── clay/
│           └── sync.ts         # Background sync job
├── tests/
│   ├── unit/
│   │   └── clay/
│   └── integration/
│       └── clay/
├── config/
│   ├── clay.development.json
│   ├── clay.staging.json
│   └── clay.production.json
└── docs/
    └── clay/
        ├── SETUP.md
        └── RUNBOOK.md

Layer Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│             API Layer                    │
│   (Controllers, Routes, Webhooks)        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│           Service Layer                  │
│  (Business Logic, Orchestration)         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│          Clay Layer        │
│   (Client, Types, Error Handling)        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│         Infrastructure Layer             │
│    (Cache, Queue, Monitoring)            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Components

Step 1: Client Wrapper

// src/clay/client.ts
export class ClayService {
  private client: ClayClient;
  private cache: Cache;
  private monitor: Monitor;

  constructor(config: ClayConfig) {
    this.client = new ClayClient(config);
    this.cache = new Cache(config.cacheOptions);
    this.monitor = new Monitor('clay');
  }

  async get(id: string): Promise<Resource> {
    return this.cache.getOrFetch(id, () =>
      this.monitor.track('get', () => this.client.get(id))
    );
  }
}

Step 2: Error Boundary

// src/clay/errors.ts
export class ClayServiceError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public readonly code: string,
    public readonly retryable: boolean,
    public readonly originalError?: Error
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'ClayServiceError';
  }
}

export function wrapClayError(error: unknown): ClayServiceError {
  // Transform SDK errors to application errors
}

Step 3: Health Check

// src/clay/health.ts
export async function checkClayHealth(): Promise<HealthStatus> {
  try {
    const start = Date.now();
    await clayClient.ping();
    return {
      status: 'healthy',
      latencyMs: Date.now() - start,
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return { status: 'unhealthy', error: error.message };
  }
}

Data Flow Diagram

User Request
     │
     ▼
┌─────────────┐
│   API       │
│   Gateway   │
└──────┬──────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│   Service   │───▶│   Cache     │
│   Layer     │    │   (Redis)   │
└──────┬──────┘    └─────────────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│ Clay    │
│   Client    │
└──────┬──────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│ Clay    │
│   API       │
└─────────────┘

Configuration Management

// config/clay.ts
export interface ClayConfig {
  apiKey: string;
  environment: 'development' | 'staging' | 'production';
  timeout: number;
  retries: number;
  cache: {
    enabled: boolean;
    ttlSeconds: number;
  };
}

export function loadClayConfig(): ClayConfig {
  const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
  return require(`./clay.${env}.json`);
}

Instructions

Step 1: Create Directory Structure

Set up the project layout following the reference structure above.

Step 2: Implement Client Wrapper

Create the singleton client with caching and monitoring.

Step 3: Add Error Handling

Implement custom error classes for Clay operations.

Step 4: Configure Health Checks

Add health check endpoint for Clay connectivity.

Output

• Structured project layout
• Client wrapper with caching
• Error boundary implemented
• Health checks configured

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Circular dependencies	Wrong layering	Separate concerns by layer
Config not loading	Wrong paths	Verify config file locations
Type errors	Missing types	Add Clay types
Test isolation	Shared state	Use dependency injection

Examples

Quick Setup Script

# Create reference structure
mkdir -p src/clay/{handlers} src/services/clay src/api/clay
touch src/clay/{client,config,types,errors}.ts
touch src/services/clay/{index,sync,cache}.ts

Resources

• Clay SDK Documentation
• Clay Best Practices

Flagship Skills

For multi-environment setup, see clay-multi-env-setup.