create-node-ready

Create a ready-to-run TypeScript + Express + MongoDB backend with one command.

npx create-node-ready

The problem

Every new Node.js backend starts the same way: set up TypeScript, Express and the database, write login and register, handle errors, validate .env, add logging, a health route, tests, a Dockerfile. It takes hours, and each project ends up slightly different because you copy from the last one.

create-node-ready does all of that in about a minute, with working code you can read and change.

Quick start

You need Node.js 20.19 or newer and a MongoDB (Docker for a local one, or a free MongoDB Atlas cluster).

1. Run the command in the folder where you want the project:

npx create-node-ready

2. Answer two questions. The project name, then small or large (use the arrow keys and Enter):

Project name? (node-app) my-api
What are you building?
❯ A small project  MVC layout: controllers, models, routes. Good for MVPs and small APIs.
  A large project  Modular layout: users, orders, jobs, Docker. Good for big or growing teams.

It creates the files, installs the packages and runs git init.

3. Start MongoDB:

cd my-api
docker compose up -d mongo

No Docker? Put your Atlas connection string in .env as MONGODB_URI.

4. Start the server:

npm run dev

It runs on http://localhost:5000 and restarts when you save a file.

5. Try it:

curl http://localhost:5000/health

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

You get back the user and a login token. Send the token as Authorization: Bearer <token> to reach private routes such as GET /api/auth/me.

6. Test, build and run for production:

npm test            # tests that need no database
npm run build       # compile TypeScript to dist/
npm start           # run the compiled build

Which size?

| | Small | Large | | --- | --- | --- | | Good for | MVPs, small APIs, learning | Bigger apps and teams | | Request flow | route → controller → model | route → controller → service → model | | Folders | config models controllers routes middlewares utils | config core modules (auth, users, orders) jobs integrations | | Docker | MongoDB only | API and MongoDB, with a small non-root production image | | Files created | 28 | 41 |

Not sure? Start with small. The code is plain Express and Mongoose, so you can grow it any way you like.

What you get

• Login system: register, login and a private /me route. Passwords are hashed with scrypt and tokens are signed JWTs, both using Node's built-in crypto.
• MongoDB with Mongoose: a ready User model (the large project also has Order), a clear message if MongoDB is not running, and protection against query injection.
• One error format: { "error": { "message": "..." } }. Validation errors, duplicate emails, bad ids and broken JSON become the right 400 / 409 / 413 responses, and production never leaks stack traces.
• Checked settings: .env is validated when the server starts, with a clear message for each problem. A random JWT_SECRET is created for every project.
• Production basics: /health, request logging (JSON lines in production), security headers, optional CORS, a body size limit, and a clean shutdown on Ctrl+C or SIGTERM.
• Strict TypeScript and tests with Node's built-in test runner. Tests that use the database run when you pass a test database:

MONGODB_URI_TEST=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/my_api_test npm test

The database name must end with _test, because it is deleted when the tests finish.

Your new project depends on express and mongoose only (plus TypeScript tools for development). Each project's README explains its layout and how to add a feature.

Options

npx create-node-ready [name] [options]

  -s, --size <small|large>   skip the size question
  -y, --yes                  skip every question (name: node-app, size: small)
      --no-install           do not install dependencies
      --no-git               do not run "git init"
      --pm <npm|pnpm|yarn>   package manager (default: the one that started this command)
  -h, --help                 show help
  -v, --version              show the version

It also works without a terminal (scripts, CI):

npx create-node-ready my-api --size large --no-git

How big is it?

| | Size | | --- | --- | | Download of create-node-ready | 26 KB (0.03 MB) | | On disk after install | about 0.1 MB of files, no dependencies | | Time to create a project | under 0.1 second, plus the time npm install takes | | Project files you get | 116 KB (small) / 176 KB (large) | | Packages the new project installs | about 52 MB for development, 15 MB for production |

The tool itself is tiny and adds nothing to your computer's load: it runs for a fraction of a second and then exits. The 52 MB belongs to the project it creates (mostly TypeScript at 23 MB, esbuild at 10 MB, and the MongoDB driver at 4 MB), the same as any TypeScript + Mongoose project.

Good to know

• It creates Express + MongoDB projects only, not other frameworks or databases.
• The Dockerfile assumes npm and a package-lock.json.
• Rate limiting, refresh tokens, email verification and password reset are not included. Add rate limiting at your proxy or API gateway before going live.
• The demo User and Order models are examples. Change them to fit your app.

License

MIT © Aayush Mishra