API Docs Creator

Express middleware for creating beautiful API documentation and testing interfaces. No setup required - just add it to your Express app!

Installation

npm install api-docs-creator

Quick Start

const express = require("express");
const { apiDocsCreator, defaultPath } = require("api-docs-creator");

const app = express();

// Add API Docs Creator middleware
app.use(
  defaultPath,
  apiDocsCreator({
    name: "My API",
    description: "API documentation and testing",
    baseUrl: "https://api.myproject.com",
  })
);

// Your existing API routes
app.get("users", (req, res) => {
  res.json({ users: [] });
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log("Server running on http://localhost:3000");
  console.log("API Docs: http://localhost:3000/api-docs");
});

Configuration Options

| Option | Type | Default | Description | | ---------------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | name | string | "API Documentation" | Project name | | description | string | "API documentation and testing interface" | Project description | | version | string | "1.0.0" | API version | | author | string | "API Team" | Author name | | baseUrl | string | "http://localhost:3000" | Base API URL for testing | | path | string | "/api-creator" | Mount path (auto-detected) | | allowExternalEdit | boolean | false | Allow editing from external IPs | | theme | string | "dark" | UI theme | | primaryColor | string | "#6B7280" | Primary color | | dataDir | string | "./api-docs" | Data storage directory | | createSampleEndpoint | boolean | true | Creates sample endpoint |

Advanced Usage

const express = require("express");
const { apiDocsCreator, defaultPath } = require("api-docs-creator");

const app = express();

// Advanced configuration
app.use(
  defaultPath,
  apiDocsCreator({
    name: "Advanced API",
    description: "Full featured API documentation",
    version: "2.0.0",
    author: "Development Team",
    baseUrl: process.env.API_BASE_URL || "http://localhost:3000",
    allowExternalEdit: process.env.NODE_ENV === "development",
    dataDir: "./custom-api-docs",
    theme: "dark",
    primaryColor: "#3B82F6",
    createSampleEndpoint: false,
  })
);

app.listen(3000);

Features

• 🚀 Zero Configuration - Works out of the box
• 📝 Visual Editor - Create and edit API endpoints with a beautiful UI
• 🧪 Built-in Testing - Test your APIs directly from the documentation
• 📁 Organized Structure - Group endpoints in folders
• 🔒 Smart Permissions - Edit mode on localhost, read-only elsewhere
• 🎨 Customizable - Themes and colors
• 📱 Responsive - Works on all devices
• ⚡ Fast - No database required, uses JSON files

File Structure

The middleware creates an api-docs directory (or custom dataDir) with this structure:

api-docs/
├── endpoints/
│   ├── users/
│   │   ├── get-users.json
│   │   └── create-user.json
│   └── auth/
│       ├── login.json
│       └── logout.json
└── sockets/
    └── (WebSocket documentation - future feature)

Demo

Run a demo server to see API Docs Creator in action:

npx api-docs-creator demo

Then visit: http://localhost:3000/api-docs

CLI Commands

# Show usage examples
npx api-docs-creator usage

# Run demo server
npx api-docs-creator demo --port 3000 --path /docs

Examples

Basic Integration

const express = require("express");
const { apiDocsCreator, defaultPath } = require("api-docs-creator");

const app = express();

// Mount at /api-docs-creator
app.use(defaultPath, apiDocsCreator());

app.listen(3000);

Multiple Documentation Sites

const app = express();

// Public API docs
app.use(
  defaultPath,
  apiDocsCreator({
    name: "Public API",
    allowExternalEdit: false,
  })
);

// Internal API docs
app.use(
  defaultPath,
  apiDocsCreator({
    name: "Internal API",
    allowExternalEdit: true,
    dataDir: "./internal-api-docs",
  })
);

With Authentication

const app = express();

// Protect with authentication middleware
app.use(
  defaultPath,
  authMiddleware,
  apiDocsCreator({
    name: "Admin API",
    allowExternalEdit: true,
  })
);

Browser Support

• Chrome 70+
• Firefox 65+
• Safari 12+
• Edge 79+

License

MIT

Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please read the contributing guidelines first.