create-express-app-by-kk

A CLI tool to scaffold a production-ready Express.js + TypeScript application with your choice of database and optional Redis support.

🚀 What It Does

Runs an interactive prompt asking two questions, then generates a fully wired project:

1. Which database? → PostgreSQL (Sequelize) or MongoDB (Mongoose)
2. Configure Redis? → Yes / No

Every scaffold includes:

• 📂 Module-based architecture (modules/Auth, modules/User)
• ✨ TypeScript with pre-configured tsconfig.json
• 🔐 JWT authentication + bcrypt password hashing
• ✅ Express-validator for request validation
• ⚙️ Pre-configured .env.local and .gitignore
• 🗄️ Migrations wired to run automatically on npm run dev and npm start

📦 Installation

npm install -g create-express-app-by-kk

🛠️ Usage

npx create-express-app-by-kk <project-name>

You will be prompted:

◆ Which database do you want to use?
│  ● PostgreSQL  (with Sequelize ORM)
│  ○ MongoDB     (with Mongoose ODM)

◆ Do you want to configure Redis?
│  ○ Yes  ● No

📁 Generated Structure

PostgreSQL (Sequelize)

<project-name>/
├── index.ts                            # Express entry point + route mounting
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── .env.local                          # DB + JWT env vars template
├── .gitignore
├── config/
│   ├── config.js                       # sequelize-cli config (reads .env.local)
│   ├── database.ts                     # Sequelize instance + connection check
│   └── redis.ts                        # (only if Redis selected)
├── interfaces/
│   └── response.interface.ts
├── middlewares/
│   └── validate.ts                     # validateRequest, isAdmin, isDeveloper
├── migrations/
│   └── <timestamp>-create-user.cjs   # Sequelize migration for Users table
├── modules/
│   ├── Auth/
│   │   ├── auth.interface.ts
│   │   ├── auth.validator.ts
│   │   ├── auth.service.ts
│   │   ├── auth.controller.ts
│   │   └── auth.routes.ts
│   └── User/
│       ├── user.model.ts
│       ├── user.service.ts
│       ├── user.controller.ts
│       ├── user.validator.ts
│       └── user.routes.ts
└── utils/
    └── helpers.ts                      # SendResponse, HashPassword, JWT helpers

MongoDB (Mongoose)

<project-name>/
├── index.ts                            # Express entry point + route mounting
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── migrate-mongo-config.js             # migrate-mongo configuration (reads .env.local)
├── .env.local                          # DB + JWT env vars template
├── .gitignore
├── config/
│   ├── database.ts                     # Mongoose connect function
│   └── redis.ts                        # (only if Redis selected)
├── interfaces/
│   └── response.interface.ts
├── middlewares/
│   └── validate.ts                     # validateRequest, isAdmin, isDeveloper
├── migrations/
│   └── <timestamp>-create-user.js    # migrate-mongo migration for users collection
├── modules/
│   ├── Auth/
│   │   ├── auth.interface.ts
│   │   ├── auth.validator.ts
│   │   ├── auth.service.ts
│   │   ├── auth.controller.ts
│   │   └── auth.routes.ts
│   └── User/
│       ├── user.model.ts              # Mongoose Schema + IUser interface
│       ├── user.service.ts
│       ├── user.controller.ts
│       ├── user.validator.ts
│       └── user.routes.ts
└── utils/
    └── helpers.ts                      # SendResponse, HashPassword, JWT helpers

⚙️ Scripts

PostgreSQL

| Script | Description | |---|---| | npm run dev | Runs migrations then starts with nodemon | | npm run build | Bundles with esbuild → dist/index.js | | npm start | Runs migrations then starts from dist/ | | npm run create:migration -- --name <name> | Generate a new Sequelize migration | | npm run db:migrate | Run all pending Sequelize migrations |

MongoDB

| Script | Description | |---|---| | npm run dev | Runs migrations then starts with nodemon | | npm run build | Bundles with esbuild → dist/index.js | | npm start | Runs migrations then starts from dist/ | | npm run create:migration -- <name> | Generate a new migrate-mongo migration | | npm run db:migrate | Run all pending migrations (up) | | npm run db:migrate:down | Roll back last migration (down) |

🔑 Environment Variables

PostgreSQL — .env.local

DATABASE=
DATABASE_USERNAME=
DATABASE_PASSWORD=
DATABASE_HOST=
DIALECT=postgres
NODE_ENV="development"
JWT_SECRET=
PORT=4000

MongoDB — .env.local

MONGODB_URI=
MONGODB_DB_NAME=
NODE_ENV="development"
JWT_SECRET=
PORT=4000

MONGODB_DB_NAME is optional — if omitted, the database name from the URI is used.

🔴 Redis (optional)

If you select Yes for Redis, config/redis.ts is added with a pre-configured client including reconnect strategy and event logging.

⚠️ Redis must be installed and running on your server. https://redis.io/docs/getting-started/installation/

🗄️ Migrations

PostgreSQL

Migrations use sequelize-cli and run automatically via the predev / prestart hooks. The config/config.js file is picked up automatically by sequelize-cli.

MongoDB

Migrations use migrate-mongo. The migrate-mongo-config.js at the project root points to your MONGODB_URI and the migrations/ directory. Migrations also run automatically via the predev / prestart hooks.

🏗️ After Setup

cd <project-name>

# 1. Fill in your credentials
nano .env.local

# 2. Start the dev server (migrations run automatically)
npm run dev