create-nest-template-malahimdev 🚀

Scaffolds a NestJS backend template with built-in best practices and sensible defaults.

Includes:

• Swagger (light /docs and dark /docsdark) with Bearer auth support
• Global validation pipes (whitelist, transform, forbidNonWhitelisted)
• Global exception handling with standardized response helpers
• MongoDB connection boilerplate
• Example public / protected / hidden endpoints and a DTO-based POST

Features

• Quick project scaffold for NestJS backends
• Ready-to-use helpers for success and error responses
• Swagger UI with light/dark themes and Bearer token configured
• Example JwtAuthGuard usage for protected routes
• Hidden endpoints excluded from Swagger using @ApiExcludeEndpoint()

Installation (recommended)

Use npx to scaffold a new project:

npx create-nest-template-malahimdev my-new-backend
# or (force latest)
npx -y create-nest-template-malahimdev@latest my-new-backend

Getting started

1. Move into your project folder:

cd my-new-backend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file in the project root and add these variables (example):

# .env
PORT=3000
MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb
# optional: used by JWT guard if included
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_here

• PORT → defaults to 3000 if not set
• MONGO_URI → defaults to local MongoDB instance if not set

4. Run the app in development mode:

npm run start:dev

Common npm scripts included in the template (example):

{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "nest start",
    "start:dev": "nest start --watch",
    "build": "nest build"
  }
}

API Endpoints (examples)

| Method | Endpoint | Description | Auth | Swagger Visible | | ------ | ---------------: | --------------------------------------- | :--: | :-------------: | | GET | / | Health check / root | ❌ | ✅ | | GET | /public-api | Example public API | ❌ | ✅ | | GET | /protected-api | Example protected API (JWT required) | ✅ | ✅ | | GET | /hidden-api | Hidden endpoint (excluded from Swagger) | ❌ | 🚫 | | POST | /create-item | Example POST with DTO validation | ❌ | ✅ |

Swagger docs

• Light theme → http://localhost:3000/docs
• Dark theme → http://localhost:3000/docsdark

Both include Bearer token configuration so you can paste a JWT and test protected endpoints.

Response helpers

Success response helper usage:

successResponse('Message here', { data: { /* payload */ } });

Error responses (these throw appropriate Nest exceptions):

errorResponse.badRequest(['Invalid input']);
errorResponse.unauthorized(['You must login first']);
errorResponse.internal();

errorResponse produces standardized error objects and throws the correct HTTP exception.

How routes are organized (example)

The template ships with a simple example controller that demonstrates:

• a public route
• a protected route guarded with JwtAuthGuard and annotated with @ApiBearerAuth()
• a hidden route annotated with @ApiExcludeEndpoint()
• a POST endpoint using DTO validation

This is a good starting point — replace or extend controllers, modules, and guards as your app grows.

Should I include auth in the template?

This template includes a ready-to-wire JwtAuthGuard and Swagger Bearer setup. The guard itself can be disabled or removed if you prefer a minimal scaffold. Including an auth guard is helpful for developers who want a secure template out of the box; you can keep it optional by documenting how to enable/replace it (e.g. wire your own auth service and set JWT_SECRET).

Contributing

Feel free to open an issue or submit a PR to add improvements (scripts, CI, more templates, extra integrations).

Author

Malahim Haseeb 📧 [email protected] 🌐 malahim.dev

License

MIT © 2025 Malahim Haseeb