A successful HTTP status does not guarantee that every response field has the shape your app expects. A proxy can return HTML, a test fixture can drift, or a field can be absent in a valid catalog record.
Validate data where it enters your application rather than allowing unchecked objects to spread through every component.
Distinguish required and optional fields
Use the API contract to identify the minimum fields needed for an operation. A catalog ID may be required while artwork is optional. Reject a response that cannot identify a record, but allow a documented missing image to use the normal fallback.
Keep type conversion explicit. A numeric-looking ID is still an opaque string if the contract says so. A duration string should not silently become zero when parsing fails. Preserve unknown values as unknown.
Do not reject every additional field automatically unless your contract and compatibility policy require strict rejection. Additive fields can be a normal part of an API's evolution. Your client can validate what it needs without claiming ownership of the entire response shape.
Give failures a useful destination
Return a controlled error category to the screen and log a safe diagnostic reference. Do not dump the complete response body into a public error message or a general analytics event.
Test a normal response, missing optional metadata, a missing required identifier, an invalid date, and an HTML error page returned with an unexpected content type. Each should lead to an intentional state.
A boundary adapter also makes future updates smaller. When the provider's documented model changes, you can revise the adapter and its fixtures without rewriting every card and player view.