Digesto (WIP)

Digesto is an experimental Node.js/TypeScript library designed to help frontend developers quickly spin up a dynamic backend with minimal configuration. By defining your database entities, validations, and schema in a simple YAML file, Digesto will automatically generate and serve RESTful endpoints under the hood.

Note: This project is in progress. Features may change or break without warning until it reaches a stable release.

Features

1. Instant backend Supply a YAML file describing your data model, then run a single CLI command. No need to manually code a server or manage database connections.

2. Auto-generated CRUD Out of the box, Digesto creates routes for listing, creating, reading, updating, and deleting records for each entity you define—so you can focus on your UI.

3. Simple validation Specify validation rules (like min, max, or required) directly in the YAML. Digesto applies them at runtime, preventing invalid data from being stored.

4. Single command to launch Run npx digesto (or a custom script) in your React/Vue/Angular project, and a Node.js server automatically starts—no separate server code needed.

5. Config-driven No complicated server config files. Keep everything in a human-readable .yml format, which is easy to update or share with your team.

6. Future ready The core architecture is designed to accommodate future features like relationships, authentication, and policy-based permissions—so as your app grows, Digesto can grow with it.

Requirements

• Node.js 16+
• A PostgreSQL database (currently the default in this project, but potentially extensible)
• npm, yarn or pnpm to install and run the CLI

Installation

Digesto is still a work in progress. If you'd like to experiment with it in your project, follow the steps below:

1. Install the library

This library is framework agnostic, so you can use it anywhere (React, Vue, Angular, Go, Rust, or just as a RESTful API).

npm install digesto 
# or 
npx digesto

2. Configure environment variables

Set the variables for the database connections and other settings. Create a .env file in the root of your project (the same folder as package.json). For example:

DIGESTO_DATABASE_HOST="localhost"
DIGESTO_DATABASE_PORT="5432"
DIGESTO_DATABASE_USERNAME="username"
DIGESTO_DATABASE_PASSWORD="password"
DIGESTO_DATABASE_NAME="test"
DIGESTO_SERVER_PORT=3000

3. Create your YAML configuration

By default, Digesto looks for a file at backend/api.yml. Create a backend folder in your project’s root (next to package.json) and add an api.yml file. For example:

name: My pet app
tables:
  Cat:
  tableName: cats
  properties:
    id:
    type: int
    primary: true
    generated: true
    name:
    type: varchar
# more config...

Here you have a real-life use case example.

4. Run the CLI

Use the Digesto CLI to start the backend server:

npx digesto

This will spin up the server using the YAML configuration at backend/api.yml.

With these steps, Digesto should be up and running in your project. Since it’s still in development, breaking changes or unexpected behavior may occur.

Quick Example

Here’s an example backend/api.yml file:

name: My pet app
tables:
  Cat:
    tableName: cats
  properties:
    id:
    type: int
    primary: true
    generated: true
    name:
    type: varchar
    age:
    type: number
    validation:
      min: 3
  User:
  properties:
    name:
    type: varchar

When you run npx digesto:

• A connection to your database is established via TypeORM.
• The Cat and User entities are created dynamically.
• A CRUD API is exposed at /api/collections/:tableName, /api/collections/:tableName/:id, etc. For example:
  • /api/collections/cats
  • /api/collections/cats/23

Current Status & Roadmap

• Validations (planned)
• Relationships between models (planned)
• CLI enhancements (planned)
• Database migrations (planned)
• Policy-based permissions (planned)
• Authentication module (planned)
• Admin UI (planned)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To propose changes or add features:

1. Clone this repository.
2. Install dependencies:

npm install
# or
yarn

3. Develop your changes, then open a pull request with an explanation of your improvements or bug fixes.

License

MIT

Disclaimer: This library is still an early-stage project. Breaking changes are likely until a stable version is released. Use at your own discretion, and feel free to share your feedback for future improvements!