🚀 Express Tool CLI

A production-grade Command Line Interface for generating robust, scalable Express.js applications. express-tool automates the boring setup, enforcing best practices, modern tooling, and clean architecture from day one.

✨ Features

• Language Support: First-class TypeScript support (recommended) or modern JavaScript (ES Modules).
• Architecture: Choose between Feature-based (great for scalability) or Classic MVC.
• Database Integration:
  • Prisma ORM: PostgreSQL (Self-managed or Managed), MySQL, MongoDB.
  • Mongoose: Native MongoDB support.
• Authentication: Built-in simple JWT authentication boilerplate.
• Template Engines: Support for Server-Side Rendering (SSR) with EJS or Pug.
• API Documentation: Automatic Swagger/OpenAPI options.
• Package Managers: Support for npm, pnpm, yarn, and bun.
• Production Ready:
  • 🐳 Docker & Docker Compose setup included.
  • 🧪 Testing with Vitest + Supertest.
  • 🧹 Linting & Formatting (ESLint + Prettier + Husky).
  • 📝 Structured logging with Pino.

📦 Installation

Install globally via your preferred package manager:

npm

npm install -g @express-tool/cli

pnpm (Recommended)

pnpm add -g @express-tool/cli

Yarn

yarn global add @express-tool/cli

Bun

bun add -g @express-tool/cli

⚡ Execution without Installation

You can also execute the CLI instantly without installing it globally:

npx (Node.js)

npx @express-tool/cli init

pnpm dlx

pnpm dlx @express-tool/cli init

bunx

bunx @express-tool/cli init

🛠 Usage

1. Initialize a New Project

The init command launches an interactive wizard to configure your new application.

express-tool init

Interactive Prompts:

1. Project Name: Name of your project directory (kebab-case).
2. Language: TypeScript (Recommended) or JavaScript.
3. Package Manager: Select npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun.
4. Architecture:
   • Feature-based: Groups files by domain feature (e.g., src/modules/users/).
   • MVC: Classic layering (src/controllers, src/routes, src/models).
5. API Type:
   • REST API + Swagger: Includes setup for auto-generated API docs.
   • REST API (Basic): Simple setup without documentation tools.
6. Database:
   • PostgreSQL (Prisma)
   • PostgreSQL (Prisma Postgres Managed)
   • MySQL (Prisma)
   • MongoDB (Mongoose)
   • None
7. Authentication:
   • JWT (JSON Web Token)
   • None
8. Template Engine:
   • EJS
   • Pug
   • None (API only)
9. Linting: (Yes/No) Include ESLint & Prettier.
10. Runtime Validation: (Yes/No) Include Zod.

2. Generate Resources (generate or g)

Quickly scaffold new resources (features) into your existing application. This command respects your project's language (TS/JS).

Syntax:

express-tool generate <resource-name>
# or shorcut
express-tool g <resource-name>

Example:

express-tool g blogs

Output: This will create the following files (example for a blogs feature):

• 📄 src/controllers/blogs.controller.ts (CRUD handlers)
• 🛣️ src/routes/blogs.routes.ts (Router definition)
• 🧪 test/blogs.test.ts (Integration tests)

After Generation: The CLI will print instructions on how to register the new route in your src/index.ts (or app.ts):

import { blogsRouter } from './routes/blogs.routes.js';
app.use('/blogs', blogsRouter);

3. Utility Commands

Check Environment

View debugging information about your local environment. useful for reporting issues.

express-tool info

Update CLI

Check for updates or self-update the CLI tool.

express-tool upgrade

📂 Project Structure

A typical project created with @express-tool/cli looks like this:

my-express-app/
├── 🐳 .dockerignore
├── ⚙️ .env
├── ⚙️ eslint.config.mjs
├── 🐙 .github/               # CI/CD Workflows
├── 🙈 .gitignore
├── 💅 .prettierrc
├── 🐳 docker-compose.yml
├── 🐳 Dockerfile
├── 📦 package.json
├── 📘 README.md
├── 📐 tsconfig.json          # (If TypeScript)
├── 🧪 vitest.config.ts
├── src/
│   ├── 📁 controllers/       # Route handlers
│   ├── 📁 middleware/        # Custom middleware (auth, validation, error)
│   ├── 📁 models/            # Database models (Mongoose schemas)
│   ├── 📁 routes/            # Route definitions
│   ├── 📁 utils/             # Utility functions and Logger
│   ├── 📄 index.ts           # Application entry point
│   └── 📄 app.test.ts        # App setup tests
└── prisma/                   # (If Prisma selected)
    └── 📄 schema.prisma

💻 Local Development

If you want to contribute to the project or run it from source, please check out our Development Guide.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request on our GitHub Repository.

📄 License

MIT © Mustak Ahmed Khan