diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 42cd455f1b..843c901fe1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ _TBD_
 
 ### 📝 Maintenance
 
-_TBD_
+- **API validation:** add a `validatedJsonBody(request, schema)` helper in `src/shared/validation/helpers.ts` that fuses JSON body parsing and Zod validation into a single call, returning either the type-narrowed data or a ready-to-return 400 `NextResponse` with the standard error envelope. Salvaged from the closed refactor PR #5075 (Tier 1 portable helper) with a focused 6-case regression test. Co-authored-by: KooshaPari <KooshaPari@users.noreply.github.com>
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/src/shared/validation/helpers.ts b/src/shared/validation/helpers.ts
index 395388b314..577041bada 100644
--- a/src/shared/validation/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/shared/validation/helpers.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
 import { z } from "zod";
 
 type ValidationErrorDetail = {
@@ -54,3 +55,63 @@ export function isValidationFailure<TData>(
 ): validation is ValidationFailure {
   return validation.success === false;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Result of attempting to parse and validate a JSON body against a Zod schema.
+ *
+ * On failure, `response` is a fully-prepared `NextResponse` (with the standard
+ * error envelope) that the caller should return directly, so route handlers can
+ * do `if (!r.success) return r.response;` without knowing the envelope shape.
+ */
+export type ValidatedJsonBodyResult<TData> =
+  | { success: true; data: TData }
+  | { success: false; response: NextResponse };
+
+/**
+ * Parse a request body as JSON and validate it against a Zod schema in one
+ * step. Returns the parsed (and type-narrowed) data on success, or a ready-to-
+ * return 400 `NextResponse` on failure. Both the malformed-JSON and the failed-
+ * validation paths emit the same error envelope
+ * (`{ error: { message, details: [{ field, message }] } }`), so a single client
+ * parser covers both.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *
+ * ```ts
+ * const result = await validatedJsonBody(request, updateComboSchema);
+ * if (!result.success) return result.response;
+ * const body = result.data; // typed as z.infer<typeof updateComboSchema>
+ * ```
+ */
+export async function validatedJsonBody<TSchema extends z.ZodTypeAny>(
+  request: Request,
+  schema: TSchema
+): Promise<ValidatedJsonBodyResult<z.infer<TSchema>>> {
+  let raw: unknown;
+  try {
+    raw = await request.json();
+  } catch {
+    return {
+      success: false,
+      response: NextResponse.json(
+        {
+          error: {
+            message: "Invalid request",
+            details: [{ field: "body", message: "Invalid JSON body" }],
+          },
+        },
+        { status: 400 }
+      ),
+    };
+  }
+
+  const validation = validateBody(schema, raw);
+  if (validation.success) {
+    return { success: true, data: validation.data };
+  }
+
+  return {
+    success: false,
+    response: NextResponse.json({ error: validation.error }, { status: 400 }),
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/api/validated-json-body.test.ts b/tests/unit/api/validated-json-body.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f8076dbad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/api/validated-json-body.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import { describe, test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { z } from "zod";
+import { validatedJsonBody } from "@/shared/validation/helpers";
+
+function makeRequest(body: string, contentType = "application/json"): Request {
+  return new Request("http://localhost/test", {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: { "content-type": contentType },
+    body,
+  });
+}
+
+describe("validatedJsonBody", () => {
+  const schema = z.object({
+    name: z.string().min(1),
+    count: z.number().int().nonnegative(),
+  });
+
+  test("returns the parsed and validated data on success", async () => {
+    const result = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest('{"name":"hello","count":3}'), schema);
+    assert.equal(result.success, true);
+    if (result.success) {
+      assert.deepEqual(result.data, { name: "hello", count: 3 });
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("returns a 400 with structured details when the body fails Zod validation", async () => {
+    const result = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest('{"name":"","count":-1}'), schema);
+    assert.equal(result.success, false);
+    if (!result.success) {
+      assert.equal(result.response.status, 400);
+      const body = await result.response.json();
+      assert.equal(body.error.message, "Invalid request");
+      assert.ok(Array.isArray(body.error.details));
+      const fields = body.error.details.map((d: { field: string }) => d.field);
+      assert.ok(fields.includes("name"));
+      assert.ok(fields.includes("count"));
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("returns a 400 with a body-parse failure for malformed JSON", async () => {
+    const result = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest("not json at all"), schema);
+    assert.equal(result.success, false);
+    if (!result.success) {
+      assert.equal(result.response.status, 400);
+      const body = await result.response.json();
+      assert.deepEqual(body, {
+        error: {
+          message: "Invalid request",
+          details: [{ field: "body", message: "Invalid JSON body" }],
+        },
+      });
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("returns a 400 for an empty body", async () => {
+    const result = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest(""), schema);
+    assert.equal(result.success, false);
+    if (!result.success) {
+      assert.equal(result.response.status, 400);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("returns a 400 when required fields are missing entirely", async () => {
+    const result = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest("{}"), schema);
+    assert.equal(result.success, false);
+    if (!result.success) {
+      assert.equal(result.response.status, 400);
+      const body = await result.response.json();
+      const fields = body.error.details.map((d: { field: string }) => d.field);
+      assert.ok(fields.includes("name"));
+      assert.ok(fields.includes("count"));
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("preserves the same envelope shape between parse and validate failure", async () => {
+    const parseFailure = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest("nope"), schema);
+    const validateFailure = await validatedJsonBody(makeRequest("{}"), schema);
+    assert.equal(parseFailure.success, false);
+    assert.equal(validateFailure.success, false);
+    if (!parseFailure.success && !validateFailure.success) {
+      const parseBody = await parseFailure.response.json();
+      const validateBody = await validateFailure.response.json();
+      assert.equal(typeof parseBody.error.message, "string");
+      assert.equal(typeof validateBody.error.message, "string");
+      assert.ok(Array.isArray(parseBody.error.details));
+      assert.ok(Array.isArray(validateBody.error.details));
+    }
+  });
+});