SeedSmith

A Node.js + TypeScript CLI and library that auto-generates MongoDB seed data from Mongoose schemas.

Features

• Uses @faker-js/faker to generate realistic values
• Inspects Mongoose schemas automatically
• Handles refs by linking to existing docs or creating stubs
• Prevents seeding when NODE_ENV=production

Install

npm install

Build

npm run build

CLI usage

# Basic
seedsmith --uri mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb --models ./path/to/models --count 25

# Quick start with your Atlas cluster (use environment variable – do NOT hardcode secrets)
export MONGO_URI="mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@<cluster-host>/<dbName>?retryWrites=true&w=majority&appName=SeedSmith"

NODE_ENV=development \
seedsmith \
  --uri "$MONGO_URI" \
  --models ./models \
  --count 25

Include/Exclude models

seedsmith --uri mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb --models ./models --include User,Post --exclude Log

Drop collections before seeding

seedsmith --uri mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb --models ./models --drop

### Optional config file

Create `seed.config.js` in your project root to customize defaults:

```js
// seed.config.js
module.exports = {
  docsPerModel: 25,
  includeModels: ["User", "Post"],
  dropBeforeSeed: false,
  useTransactions: false,
};

Library usage

import mongoose from "mongoose";
import { seedDatabase } from "@alieutech/seedsmith";

await mongoose.connect("mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb");
await seedDatabase(mongoose, {
  // modelsPath: "./models", // optional: if omitted, uses already-registered models
  docsPerModel: 20,
  includeModels: ["User", "Post"],
  dropBeforeSeed: false,
  useTransactions: false,
});
await mongoose.disconnect();

Notes

• SeedSmith throws if NODE_ENV is production.
• Models must register themselves with Mongoose (e.g., mongoose.model('User', userSchema)).
• CLI loads seed.config.js if present and merges with flags.

Security

• Never hardcode credentials in code or docs. Prefer environment variables (e.g., MONGO_URI) or a secrets manager.
• Avoid passing credentials directly in shell history. Use export MONGO_URI=... or a .env file that is not committed.
• Use a least-privilege database user for seeding (only the necessary permissions for inserts/updates).
• If credentials were exposed, rotate them immediately and revoke any leaked tokens.
• Keep seeding to non-production environments; SeedSmith blocks when NODE_ENV=production.