This is a library to simplify mobx data stores that mimic backend models. It includes simple class that makes API requests and executes callbacks on success/failure. Model attributes and relations are then updated from server-side json. Note that you will need es6 support with static properties to use mobx-model.
The idea is to have single source of truth — graph of model objects that reference each other. Each model class holds collection of cached model instances available through Model.all() and Model.get(:id) methods.
Mobx-model is not a replacement for Backbone.Model since it supports single source of truth principle. Model instance methods that are created by defining attributes and relations are intended to be used as a way to access state of the models. To hydrate the state you have to use set method on an instance or a class, that will set or update your model attributes and trigger re-renders on appropriate components thanks to mobx-react.
You can also define actions on model classes or instances or on the BaseModel itself that will communicate with your data store — API, localstorage or whatever you need, just make sure to call set when you need to update state of the models.
This library is not perfect, but it works for us together with Rails + ActiveModel Serializers 0.8.3 on the backend, making work with normalized database structure much easier. If you want to make it work with your backend setup then raise an issue — I'll be glad to help you out to make library universal.
Note that currently polymorphic associations are not supported, though there are some workarounds.