backend-scaffold-cli

A CLI tool to quickly scaffold Express.js backend projects with MongoDB, middleware, and common setup. It automatically generates production-ready projects with JWT authentication (including working register/login endpoints), error handling, request logging, input validation, and pre-configured MongoDB Atlas connection. Every project has different requirements, so this tool provides a solid, common foundation that developers can easily modify, extend, or trim according to their specific needs.

Features

✨ Quick Setup

• Complete folder structure
• Pre-configured Express server with graceful shutdown (SIGTERM/SIGINT)
• MongoDB Atlas connection (cloud-based)
• Environment variables template
• Optional DNS override (for networks with MongoDB SRV lookup issues)

🔐 Security

• JWT authentication with working register/login endpoints
• Password hashing with bcryptjs (configurable salt rounds)
• Helmet security headers
• Error handling middleware (including Multer-specific errors)
• CORS configuration
• Rate limiting with stricter limits on auth routes (brute-force protection)
• JWT_SECRET validation at startup (blocks default/missing secrets)

📝 Developer Experience

• Logging middleware
• Input validation with Joi (actually applied to auth routes)
• File upload support with multer (optional)
• Axios utility for external API calls (optional)
• Sample routes, User model, and auth controller
• Git initialization (with graceful fallback if Git isn't installed)
• Auto dependency installation (with graceful failure handling)
• Non-interactive mode with --yes flag for scripting/CI

Installation

Using npx (Recommended)

npx backend-scaffold-cli@latest my-app
cd my-app
npm start

Global Installation

npm install -g backend-scaffold-cli@latest
create-express-backend my-app

Tip: Always use @latest to ensure you get the newest version with all features and bug fixes.

Usage

Interactive Mode

npx backend-scaffold-cli@latest <project-name>

You'll be prompted to select features:

• ✅ Include JWT authentication (adds bcryptjs, User model, and register/login endpoints)
• ✅ Include input validation
• ✅ Use custom DNS (only needed if MongoDB connection fails due to DNS issues)
• ✅ Include rate limiting
• ✅ Include file upload support (multer)
• ✅ Include axios (for external API calls)
• ✅ Install dependencies

Non-Interactive Mode

Skip all prompts and accept defaults:

npx backend-scaffold-cli@latest my-app --yes

After setup, copy .env.example to .env, configure your MongoDB URI and a secure JWT_SECRET, then run:

npm start

Test it's working:

curl http://localhost:5000/api/health

If JWT authentication is enabled, test registration:

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"Test User","email":"[email protected]","password":"password123"}'

Project Structure

my-app/
├── src/
│ ├── config/
│ │ └── db.js
│ ├── middleware/
│ │ ├── errorHandler.js
│ │ ├── logger.js
│ │ ├── auth.js
│ │ ├── validation.js
│ │ ├── rateLimiter.js
│ │ └── upload.js
│ ├── routes/
│ │ └── index.js
│ ├── controllers/
│ │ └── authController.js
│ ├── models/
│ │ └── User.js
│ ├── utils/
│ │ └── axiosUtil.js
│ ├── validation/
│ │ └── authValidation.js
│ └── server.js
├── uploads/
├── .env.example
├── .gitignore
└── package.json

Environment Variables

# Server Configuration
PORT=5000
NODE_ENV=development

# MongoDB Configuration
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://username:[email protected]/dbname
DB_NAME=myapp

# DNS Configuration (only present if DNS fix is enabled)
DNS_SERVERS=8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4

# JWT Configuration
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key-change-this-in-production
JWT_EXPIRE=7d
BCRYPT_SALT_ROUNDS=10

# CORS (set to your frontend URL; use a specific domain in production)
CORS_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000

# External API (only present if axios is enabled)
API_BASE_URL=

Important: The server will refuse to start if JWT_SECRET is missing or left as the default placeholder value. Always set a strong, unique secret before running in any environment.

Included Middleware

| Middleware | Purpose | Optional | |-----------|---------|----------| | Error Handler | Catches and formats all errors (including Multer errors) | No | | Logger | Logs request method, path, status, timing | No | | Auth (JWT) | Protects routes with token verification | Yes | | Validation | Validates request body with Joi (applied to auth routes) | Yes | | Rate Limiter | Prevents API abuse (100 req/15min general, 5 req/15min on auth) | Yes | | Upload (Multer) | Handles image file uploads | Yes |

Testing

Run the CLI's own test suite (integration tests that actually generate and verify projects):

npm test

License

MIT

Repository

https://github.com/abhi-0605/express-backend