caramex

A developer-friendly CLI to initialize Express projects and generate feature-based routes & controllers with zero boilerplate friction.

Why caramex?

Setting up and scaling an Express project usually means:

• Manually creating folders
• Writing repetitive boilerplate
• Wiring routes into app.js every time
• Accidentally breaking imports or registrations

caramex automates all of that safely, predictably, and idempotently.

Features

• Project Initialization
  • Creates a clean Express project structure
  • Installs required dependencies
  • Configures scripts and module type
  • Enforces a predictable src/ layout
• Feature Generation
  • Generates routes & controllers per feature
  • Automatically registers routes in app.js
  • Supports basic and CRUD templates
  • Safe file writing (no accidental overwrites)

Generated Project Structure

src/
├── app.js
├── index.js
├── routes/
│   └── auth.routes.js
└── controllers/
    └── auth.controller.js

Installation

Global install

npm install -g caramex

OR

Using npx

npx caramex init

Commands

caramex init

Initializes a new Express project in the current directory.

What it does:

• Runs npm init
• Installs express
• Installs nodemon (dev dependency)
• Sets type: module
• Sets entry point to src/index.js
• Creates base folder structure

Usage:

caramex init

caramex add <feature>

Generates a feature with routes and controllers and wires it into the app.

Usage:

caramex add auth

Generated files

src/routes/auth.routes.js
src/controllers/auth.controller.js

Automatically updates

// src/app.js
import authRoutes from "./routes/auth.routes.js";

app.use("/auth", authRoutes);

Options:

--crud

Generate CRUD boilerplate instead of a basic template.

caramex add users --crud

--force

Overwrite existing files if they already exist.

caramex add auth --force

--preview

Dry-run mode. Shows what will be created without touching the filesystem.

caramex add auth --preview

Future Plans

The following will be achieved as the package get better:

• Completing unit testing of all file and moving towards integration testing
• adding service files if needed using service flag
• adding middleware files if needed using middleware flag
• adding typescript language support

Final Thoughts

caramex is built as a learning-first, production-ready CLI designed to create clean Express structure while saving real development time.

If you enjoy building tools instead of rewriting boilerplate, this is for you.

License

MIT © Aniket Dinde