easy.js - Backend Framework for Node.js/Express

A developer-friendly backend framework that transforms simple DSL syntax into functional Node.js/Express applications with built-in security, validation, and database support.

Author: Avi Ranjan Prasad

Validation note: core adapters are covered by local contract tests. Paid/cloud/provider adapters such as Supabase, Firebase, DynamoDB, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Cassandra, and Neo4j require LIVE_ADAPTERS=true plus real service credentials or local services for live validation. See Live Adapter Validation.

Start in One Minute

npx easybackend.js create my-api
cd my-api
npm install
npm run doctor
npm run dev

START SERVER 3000
USE MONGODB mongodb://localhost:27017/blog

SECURITY strict
DOCS openapi
ADMIN enabled

MODEL posts {
  title: string
  content: string
}

GET /posts FROM posts
POST /posts FROM posts
PROTECT /posts

New user guides:

• Getting Started
• easy.js Language
• AI, Cloud, and DevOps Support
• Database Support
• Live Adapter Validation
• Security Defaults
• IDE Support
• Language Specification
• Runtime Semantics
• AST Documentation
• Backward Compatibility
• Generated Code Security

What is easy.js?

easy.js simplifies backend development by letting you write backend applications in a clean, human-readable DSL instead of complex Express.js code. Write simple declarations, get a fully functional REST API with:

• Express.js server setup
• MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis, and additional provider adapter support
• JWT authentication
• Input validation
• Rate limiting & security headers
• CORS configuration
• Error handling
• Database migrations
• Live provider validation harness for credential-backed services

Modern AI, Cloud, and DevOps

• OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Anthropic SDK support through AIProviderManager
• TensorFlow.js local ML utilities
• AWS SDK v3 for S3 and DynamoDB
• MongoDB, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, libSQL/Turso, SQL Server, Redis, Firebase, DynamoDB, Supabase, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Cassandra, and Neo4j database adapters
• Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, and S3 storage adapters
• Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes, Helm, Terraform for AWS ECS/Fargate, GitHub Actions CI, Sentry, OpenTelemetry, and Prometheus

Quick Start

Installation

npm install easybackend.js

Provider SDKs and database drivers are optional so normal installs stay small. Install only what your app uses, for example:

npm install mongoose
npm install pg
npm install @supabase/supabase-js

easyjs doctor reads your .easy files and tells you the exact package to install when a selected provider is missing.

New projects also include an editable template/ folder. Put plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript there and easy.js serves it at /, so you can design a small UI without setting up a separate frontend build. The generated template/api.js exposes EasyAPI.get(), EasyAPI.post(), and related helpers for calling your backend.

You can choose a UI preset:

npx easybackend.js create my-api --ui bootstrap
npx easybackend.js create my-api --ui tailwind
easyjs add ui bootstrap
easyjs add ui tailwind
easyjs add page dashboard

Create a Project

npx easybackend.js create my-api
cd my-api
npm install
npm start

Your First API

Create app.easy:

START SERVER 3000

USE MONGODB mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb

MODEL users {
  name: string
  email: string
  password: string
}

AUTH users BY jwt

GET /users FROM users
POST /users FROM users
PUT /users/:id FROM users
DELETE /users/:id FROM users

VALIDATE users {
  email: required:email
  password: required:min=6
  name: required
}

PROTECT /users

Run it:

easyjs start app.easy

Your API is now running on http://localhost:3000

Language Syntax

Server Configuration

START SERVER <port>

Example:

START SERVER 3000

Database Configuration

USE MONGODB <connection_string>
USE MYSQL <connection_string>

Examples:

USE MONGODB mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp
USE MYSQL mysql://root:password@localhost:3306/myapp

Model Definition

MODEL <name> {
  field: type
  field: type
}

Supported types: string, number, boolean, date, object, array

Example:

MODEL users {
  name: string
  email: string
  age: number
  isActive: boolean
}

Routes

<METHOD> <path> FROM <model>

Methods: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH

Examples:

GET /users FROM users
GET /users/:id FROM users
POST /users FROM users
PUT /users/:id FROM users
DELETE /users/:id FROM users

Authentication

AUTH <model> BY jwt

Enables JWT authentication for the specified model.

AUTH users BY jwt

Protected Routes

PROTECT <path>

Requires JWT token for access.

PROTECT /users
PROTECT /posts

Validation Rules

VALIDATE <model> {
  field: rule:rule
  field: rule:rule
}

Available rules:

• required - Field is mandatory
• email - Valid email format
• min=N - Minimum length/value
• max=N - Maximum length/value
• numeric - Numeric values only
• alphanumeric - Letters and numbers only
• url - Valid URL format
• phone - Valid phone number

Example:

VALIDATE users {
  email: required:email
  password: required:min=6
  age: numeric:min=18
  name: required:min=2:max=50
}

Middleware

USE LOGGER
USE AUTH

Built-in middleware: LOGGER, AUTH, CORS, COMPRESSION

Project Structure

easyjs/
├── cli/                    # Command-line interface
├── parser/                 # DSL parser & tokenizer
│   ├── Parser.js
│   ├── Tokenizer.js
│   └── ASTBuilder.js
├── compiler/               # Compiler to Express.js
│   └── Compiler.js
├── runtime/                # Runtime engine
│   └── RuntimeEngine.js
├── core/                   # Core modules
│   ├── router.js          # Route handler generation
│   ├── database.js        # Database manager
│   ├── auth.js            # Authentication & JWT
│   ├── validator.js       # Input validation
│   ├── logger.js          # Logging utility
│   └── middleware.js      # Middleware factory
├── adapters/              # Database adapters
│   ├── mongodb.js
│   └── mysql.js
├── examples/              # Example applications
├── index.js               # Entry point
├── package.json
└── README.md

Security Features

Built-in Protections

• JWT Authentication: Secure token-based authentication
• Password Hashing: bcryptjs for secure password storage
• Rate Limiting: Protection against brute force attacks
• Helmet.js: Secure HTTP headers
• CORS: Configurable cross-origin resource sharing
• Input Validation: Comprehensive validation rules
• Input Sanitization: Automatic input cleaning
• SQL Injection Prevention: Parameterized queries

Environment Configuration

Create .env file:

JWT_SECRET=your-secure-secret-key
JWT_EXPIRY=24h
MONGODB_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp
MYSQL_URL=mysql://root:password@localhost:3306/myapp
DEBUG=false

Database Support

MongoDB

USE MONGODB mongodb://user:password@host:port/dbname

Features:

• Automatic schema generation
• Timestamps (createdAt, updatedAt)
• Mongoose integration
• Flexible document structure

MySQL

USE MYSQL mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/dbname

Features:

• Automatic table creation
• Connection pooling
• Prepared statements
• Transaction support ready

Authentication

Setup

AUTH users BY jwt
PROTECT /api/users

API Endpoints

Authentication is handled automatically via protected routes. Include JWT token:

Authorization: Bearer <token>

User Management

Users model receives special handling:

• Password auto-hashing
• Token generation
• Session management

Validation

Comprehensive input validation with clear error messages:

VALIDATE users {
  email: required:email
  password: required:min=6:max=128
  age: numeric:min=18
}

Error responses:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Validation failed",
  "details": {
    "email": ["email must be a valid email"],
    "password": ["password must be at least 6 characters"]
  }
}

API Response Format

Success Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { /* resource data */ }
}

Error Response

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Error message",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-01T12:00:00.000Z"
}

CLI Commands

Create New Project

npx easybackend.js create <project-name>

Start Production Server

easyjs start app.easy

Development Mode (Watch Mode)

easyjs dev app.easy

Add Features

easyjs add model Product
easyjs add route products
easyjs add crud products
easyjs add auth jwt
easyjs add database postgres
easyjs add page dashboard

Check Provider Packages

easyjs doctor

If your app says USE SUPABASE and the SDK is missing, doctor prints:

You use Supabase but @supabase/supabase-js is missing. Run npm install @supabase/supabase-js.

Build for Production

easyjs build

Check Before Publishing

npm run release:check

This runs the test suite, production smoke validation, package dry-run, real pack, and a temp consumer install from the generated tarball.

Show Version

easyjs --version

Show Help

easyjs --help

Complete Example

START SERVER 4000

USE MONGODB mongodb://localhost:27017/blog

MODEL posts {
  title: string
  content: string
  author: string
  published: boolean
  views: number
}

MODEL comments {
  postId: string
  text: string
  author: string
}

GET /posts FROM posts
GET /posts/:id FROM posts
POST /posts FROM posts
PUT /posts/:id FROM posts
DELETE /posts/:id FROM posts

GET /posts/:postId/comments FROM comments
POST /posts/:postId/comments FROM comments
DELETE /comments/:id FROM comments

VALIDATE posts {
  title: required:min=3:max=200
  content: required:min=10
  author: required
}

VALIDATE comments {
  text: required:min=1:max=1000
  author: required
  postId: required
}

PROTECT /posts
PROTECT /comments

Deployment

Docker

FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install

COPY . .

ENV NODE_ENV=production
EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["npm", "start"]

Environment Variables

Set before deployment:

JWT_SECRET=production-secret-key
MONGODB_URL=mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]/proddb
NODE_ENV=production

Testing Your API

Get All Users

curl http://localhost:3000/users

Create User

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "password": "securepass123"
  }'

Update User

curl -X PUT http://localhost:3000/users/123 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Jane Doe"
  }'

Delete User

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3000/users/123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

Best Practices

1. Environment Variables: Always use .env for sensitive data
2. Validation: Define comprehensive validation rules
3. Security: Use strong JWT secrets in production
4. Logging: Enable debug mode during development
5. Database: Use connection strings with authentication
6. Rate Limiting: Protect public endpoints from abuse

Troubleshooting

Database Connection Failed

• Check database service is running
• Verify connection string in .env
• Check firewall rules

Port Already in Use

easyjs start app.easy --port 3001

Module Not Found

npm install
npm start

License

MIT License - Feel free to use in personal and commercial projects

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Submit issues and pull requests on GitHub.

Support

For issues and questions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check documentation
• Review examples directory

easy.js - Building backends has never been easier.