create-neon-backend

A TypeScript-based CLI to bootstrap a project by cloning a repository and generating a .env file via flags or interactive prompts.

Install / Usage

Run directly with npx after publishing:

npx create-neon-backend my-app --template react --express --database-url postgres://user:pass@host/db -e API_KEY=secret

Or locally (dev):

npm run build
node bin/create --help

Options

• project-directory (optional): Target directory. Defaults to my-app in interactive mode.
• -t, --template <name>: Template to use (react or nextjs).
• --database-url <url>: Database connection string for running initial migration (NOT saved to .env).
• -e, --env <KEY=VALUE...>: Provide multiple environment variables.
• --express: Pre-fill common Express variables (PORT, NODE_ENV, SESSION_SECRET).
• -y, --yes: Non-interactive, accept defaults (requires --template and --database-url unless --env-only).
• --env-only: Only create .env in the directory.

What it does

1. Collects options and prompts (including DATABASE_URL, which is runtime-only).
2. Clones the selected template from luist18/neon-backend-examples/<template>.
3. Generates .env (excluding DATABASE_URL).
4. If db/initial-migration.sql exists and --database-url was provided, runs it using @neondatabase/serverless.

Development

• Build: npm run build
• Dev help: npm run dev

Publish

Update version, then:

npm publish --access public

Templates are sourced from https://github.com/luist18/neon-backend-examples (subdirectory clone).