I had already built this project before, it was just in a repository with some problems, hence the fast commit times.

🚀 API Documentation Middleware (CSM)

Effortlessly generate structured, real-time API documentation for your Express applications.

✨ Overview

CSM (Custom Server Middleware) is a powerful and minimal middleware designed to automatically generate and serve API documentation in Express-based applications.

Built with simplicity and flexibility in mind, CSM integrates seamlessly into your backend and exposes a clean documentation endpoint with almost zero configuration.

⚡ Why CSM?

• 🔌 Plug & Play — Drop it into your Express app and it just works
• 📄 Auto Documentation — No need to manually maintain docs
• ⚙️ Configurable — Define your own route and environment mode
• 🌐 Frontend Ready — Easily connect with any frontend
• 🧠 Developer Friendly — Designed for speed and clarity

📦 Installation

npm install docify-api

or

pnpm add docify-api

🛠 Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• MongoDB database
• Express application

⚙️ Environment Setup

Create a .env file in the root of your project:

MONGO_URL=your_mongodb_connection_string

🚀 Quick Start

import express from 'express';
import DocifyApi from 'docify-api';
import mongoose from 'mongoose';
import cors, { type CorsOptions } from 'cors';
import 'dotenv/config.js';

(async () => {
    const URL = process.env.MONGO_URL;
    if (!URL) throw new Error('MONGO_URL is not defined in environment variables');
    await mongoose.connect(URL);
})();

const allowedOrigins: string[] = ['http://localhost:5173', 'http://localhost:3000'];
const corsOptions: CorsOptions = {
    origin: (origin, callback) => {
        if (!origin) return callback(null, true);
        if (allowedOrigins.includes(origin)) return callback(null, true);
        return callback(new Error('Not allowed by CORS'));
    },
    credentials: true,
    optionsSuccessStatus: 200,
};

const app = express();

app.use(cors(corsOptions));
app.use(DocifyApi({ mode: 'development', title: 'My API Documentation' }));

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Server running on http://localhost:3000'));

🧠 How It Works

CSM acts as an Express middleware that:

• Hooks into your application lifecycle
• Collects and structures API-related data
• Generates a documentation layer dynamically
• Serves it through a configurable endpoint

No manual documentation writing required.

⚠️ Important Notes

• MongoDB must be connected before initializing the middleware
• CORS should be configured properly if used with a frontend
• Designed primarily for development and internal tooling (depending on configuration)

🧪 Example Use Case

Perfect for:

• Internal tools
• Rapid prototyping
• Developer dashboards
• API testing environments
• Portfolio projects

🛡 Error Handling

Common issues:

• ❌ MONGO_URL is not defined → Ensure .env is configured
• ❌ Connection timeout → Verify MongoDB connection
• ❌ CORS errors → Adjust allowed origins

📁 Project Structure (Suggested)

project/
├── src/
├── dist/
├── .env
├── package.json
└── server.ts

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome and appreciated.

# Fork the repo
# Create your feature branch
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

# Commit your changes
git commit -m "Add amazing feature"

# Push to the branch
git push origin feature/amazing-feature

Then open a Pull Request.

📄 License

MIT License

💡 Author

Wilfryn Viloria Rosario