🧩 NetSuite SuiteScript Design Patterns for Enterprise Projects

Introduction

As NetSuite environments grow, so do their scripts — from a few customizations to hundreds of interconnected modules, integrations, and workflows.
Without structure, maintaining and debugging these scripts becomes chaotic.

This is where design patterns come in — frameworks that define how your SuiteScripts are organized, reused, and extended safely.

💡 Why SuiteScript Design Patterns Matter

✅ Goal: Code that’s modular, testable, and future-proof.

🧱 Step 1: Adopt a Layered Architecture

Divide your SuiteScript into logical layers — similar to modern software frameworks.

/SuiteScript_Project/
 ├── lib/                 # Utility functions
 ├── modules/             # Reusable business modules
 ├── scripts/             # Entry-point scripts (UE, MR, Suitelet)
 ├── config/              # Dynamic configuration JSON
 └── logs/                # Centralized error logs

⚙️ Step 2: Implement a Utility Library (Helper Layer)

/**
 * @NApiVersion 2.1
 * @NModuleScope Public
 */
define(['N/log', 'N/runtime'], (log, runtime) => {

  const logInfo = (title, details) => log.audit(title, details);
  const getRemainingUsage = () => runtime.getCurrentScript().getRemainingUsage();
  const handleError = (title, e) => log.error(title, e.message || e);

  return { logInfo, handleError, getRemainingUsage };
});

✅ Use this across all scripts — keeps logging consistent and governance tracked centrally.

🧠 Step 3: Use the “Controller + Service” Pattern

This pattern separates what happens (Controller) from how it happens (Service).

Example: Customer Creation Flow

customerService.js

define(['N/record'], (record) => {
  const createCustomer = (data) => {
    const cust = record.create({ type: 'customer', isDynamic: true });
    cust.setValue('companyname', data.name);
    cust.setValue('email', data.email);
    return cust.save();
  };
  return { createCustomer };
});

customerController.js

define(['./customerService', './lib/utils'], (service, utils) => {
  const execute = (data) => {
    try {
      const id = service.createCustomer(data);
      utils.logInfo('Customer Created', id);
    } catch (e) {
      utils.handleError('Customer Creation Failed', e);
    }
  };
  return { execute };
});

✅ Benefit: Business logic stays separate from SuiteScript dependencies — easy to test or reuse in RESTlets, Suitelets, or Map/Reduce.

⚙️ Step 4: Use Dependency Injection

Instead of hard-coding modules, inject dependencies dynamically.
This makes scripts testable and flexible for future updates.

define([], () => {
  function init({ logger, service }) {
    return {
      run: (data) => {
        logger.logInfo('Running Process', data);
        service.process(data);
      }
    };
  }
  return { init };
});

✅ Helps you mock or replace services in sandbox vs production easily.

🧩 Step 5: Centralize Error & Audit Logging

Use a shared errorLogger.js utility that all scripts can call.

define(['N/record'], (record) => {
  function logError(module, message, stack) {
    record.create({ type: 'customrecord_error_log', isDynamic: true })
      .setValue('custrecord_module_name', module)
      .setValue('custrecord_message', message)
      .setValue('custrecord_stacktrace', stack)
      .save();
  }
  return { logError };
});

✅ Makes system-wide debugging consistent and auditable.

⚡ Step 6: Reuse Code via “Shared Module” Pattern

Instead of repeating logic (like tax calculation or validation), create shared modules:

/modules/
 ├── TaxCalculator.js
 ├── ValidationHelper.js
 ├── EmailNotifier.js

Example:

define([], () => ({
  validateEmail(email) {
    return /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/.test(email);
  }
}));

✅ Keeps logic consistent across multiple record types and scripts.

🧱 Step 7: Use Configuration-Driven Logic

Combine with your Dynamic Configuration Framework (from previous tutorial).
Scripts load external parameters or settings dynamically from a configuration record or JSON.

Example config:

{
  "subsidiary": 3,
  "approverRole": 1089,
  "formId": 153
}

✅ Change behavior without editing or redeploying scripts.

🧮 Step 8: Implement Script Version Control

In each script, include:

/**
 * @version 1.2.4
 * @lastmodified 2025-10-10
 */

Maintain a shared version.json file to keep track of all active scripts and deployments — easy for audits.

🧠 Step 9: Standardize Logging Format

Consistent log formats make troubleshooting easy.

utils.logInfo('[CustomerSync] Started', runtime.getCurrentScript().id);
utils.logInfo('[CustomerSync] Records Processed', count);
utils.handleError('[CustomerSync] Failure', e);

✅ Filters and searches in NetSuite’s script logs become effortless.

🧰 Step 10: Reusable Project Template

Create a SuiteScript boilerplate to accelerate new development:

/SuiteScript_Template/
 ├── lib/utils.js
 ├── lib/errorLogger.js
 ├── modules/common/
 │   ├── emailService.js
 │   ├── recordHelper.js
 ├── config/config.json
 ├── scripts/ue_template.js
 └── scripts/mr_template.js

✅ Your entire team can start projects from a consistent foundation.

📚 Related Tutorials

• 👉 Dynamic SuiteScript Configuration Framework
• 👉 Custom Error Handling & Retry Framework
• 👉 Performance Optimization for Map/Reduce Scripts

❓ FAQ

Q1. Can I apply these patterns in SuiteScript 1.0?
You can mimic modularity, but SuiteScript 2.1 with define() supports cleaner dependency management.

Q2. How do I enforce these patterns across teams?
Maintain a shared Git repository with your template and run code reviews.

Q3. Can this structure integrate with external version control?
Yes — use SuiteCloud CLI with Git for full source tracking.

Q4. What about testing?
You can write Node.js unit tests for your modules before deploying to NetSuite.

🧭 Summary

Enterprise projects require more than working code — they need structure, scalability, and reusability.
By applying SuiteScript design patterns like layered architecture, controllers/services, utilities, and dependency injection, you’ll create a system that’s maintainable for years and ready for complex integrations.

These patterns turn your NetSuite environment into a developer-friendly, modular ERP platform that aligns with true software engineering best practices.