Proxy CLI Tool

A powerful reverse proxy and load balancing configuration generator for Express.js applications.

Why Choose This Generator?

A CLI tool for generating reverse proxy and load balancing configurations for Express.js applications — with support for Nginx, Caddy, and Traefik, and two simple modes to get you running fast.

Built for modern backend development:

• 🔀 Reverse proxy configuration for Express.js apps
• ⚖️ Load balancing across multiple Express instances
• 🌐 Nginx, Caddy, and Traefik support
• 🛡️ Security headers included by default
• 🐳 Docker Compose ready
• 🎯 Interactive mode for guided setup
• 🎨 Simple flag-based CLI for quick configuration

Getting Started

Interactive Mode (Recommended for Beginners)

Simply run the command and follow the prompts:

npx @excli/proxy

The interactive mode will guide you through selecting:

• Proxy server (Nginx, Caddy, or Traefik)
• Mode (Reverse Proxy or Load Balancing)

Quick Setup with Flags

For experienced users who know what they want:

# Nginx reverse proxy
npx @excli/proxy --nginx --reverse-proxy

# Caddy load balancing
npx @excli/proxy --caddy --load-balancing

# Traefik reverse proxy
npx @excli/proxy --traefik --reverse-proxy

Or install globally:

npm install -g @excli/proxy

# Interactive mode
excli-proxy

# With flags
excli-proxy --nginx --reverse-proxy
excli-proxy --caddy --load-balancing
excli-proxy --traefik --reverse-proxy

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or higher
• Docker Desktop or Docker Engine (required for running generated configurations)

Usage

Two Ways to Use

1. Interactive Mode (Easiest)

npx @excli/proxy

Just answer the prompts and you're done!

2. Flag-Based Mode (Fastest)

# Nginx with reverse proxy
npx @excli/proxy --nginx --reverse-proxy

# Nginx with load balancing
npx @excli/proxy --nginx --load-balancing

# Caddy with reverse proxy
npx @excli/proxy --caddy --reverse-proxy

# Caddy with load balancing
npx @excli/proxy --caddy --load-balancing

# Traefik with reverse proxy
npx @excli/proxy --traefik --reverse-proxy

# Traefik with load balancing
npx @excli/proxy --traefik --load-balancing

Command-Line Flags

Proxy Server Flags

• --nginx - Use Nginx as the proxy server
• --caddy - Use Caddy as the proxy server
• --traefik - Use Traefik as the proxy server

Mode Flags

• --reverse-proxy - Generate a reverse proxy configuration
• --load-balancing - Generate a load balancing configuration

All valid combinations:

npx @excli/proxy --nginx --reverse-proxy
npx @excli/proxy --nginx --load-balancing
npx @excli/proxy --caddy --reverse-proxy
npx @excli/proxy --caddy --load-balancing
npx @excli/proxy --traefik --reverse-proxy
npx @excli/proxy --traefik --load-balancing

What's Included

Generated Files

• nginx.conf / Caddyfile / traefik.yaml - Production-ready proxy configuration
• compose.yaml - Multi-service orchestration for your proxy + Express instances

Proxy Server Options

| Proxy | SSL/TLS | Modes | Config File | | ----------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------- | -------------- | | Nginx | Manual cert config | reverse-proxy, load-balancing | nginx.conf | | Caddy | Automatic HTTPS (ACME) | reverse-proxy, load-balancing | Caddyfile | | Traefik | Automatic HTTPS (ACME) | reverse-proxy, load-balancing | traefik.yaml |

Common Commands

Running Your Proxy

docker compose up             # Start proxy and Express instances
docker compose down           # Stop all services
docker compose up -d          # Start services in detached mode
docker compose scale server=5 # Scale Express instances dynamically

Nginx

nginx -t          # Test configuration for syntax errors
nginx -s reload   # Reload config without downtime

Caddy

caddy validate --config Caddyfile   # Validate configuration
caddy reload --config Caddyfile     # Reload config without downtime

Traefik

traefik --configfile=traefik.yaml --dry-run   # Validate static config
curl http://localhost:8080/api/rawdata | jq    # Inspect live config via dashboard API

Managing Your Proxy

After running docker compose up, your Express app will be accessible through the proxy at http://localhost.

• All upstream instances are automatically registered
• Health checks are configured out of the box to skip unhealthy instances
• Logs are routed through Docker for easy inspection with docker compose logs

Troubleshooting

Port 80 or 443 already in use? Check if another web server is running on those ports, or update the port mappings in your compose.yaml.

502 Bad Gateway? Your Express app instances may not be running or are listening on the wrong port. Verify the port in your compose.yaml matches your Express app's listen port.

Caddy not provisioning SSL automatically? Ensure your domain is publicly accessible and DNS is pointing to your server. Caddy requires a reachable domain for Let's Encrypt ACME challenges.

Interactive mode not working? Make sure you're using the latest version: npm install -g @excli/proxy@latest

Need help? Open an issue on GitHub with details about your problem.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Submit pull requests
• Improve documentation

License

ISC License - see LICENSE file for details.

Author

Noman
📧 [email protected]
🔗 @pxycknomdictator

Happy coding! Built with ❤️ for developers who value productivity.