Express API Testing Middleware with Built-in UI

apidev is a Postman-style API testing system that integrates directly into your Express application. It auto-detects all your routes using a Python-based scanner and provides a beautiful in-browser UI to test them — no extra config or external tools required.

Undervelopment - working features are below

✨ Features

• ✅ Instantly discover all Express routes using static code analysis
• ✅ Simple middleware setup — no config required
• ✅ In-browser UI to test GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
• ✅ Add custom headers and body inputs
• ✅ Color-coded HTTP methods for quick visibility
• ✅ Uses python precompiled binaries to scan project (Work on Windows)

📦 Installation

npm install express-apidev

🚀 Quick Start

1. Use the middleware in your Express app

const express = require("express");
const initApiTester = require("express-apidev");

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Register your routes here
// app.use('/api', require('./routes/api'))

// Mount the API tester
app.use(initApiTester());

app.listen(3000, () => console.log("Running on http://localhost:3000"));

2. Open the Test UI

Visit URL/__apitest
You’ll see all your detected routes — test them directly.

🔮 Roadmap

| Feature | Status | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------- | | Auto-detect routes using static scanner | ✅ Completed | | Simple in-browser testing UI | ✅ Completed | | Add body and headers to test requests | ✅ Completed | | Static route listing with HTTP method tags | ✅ Completed | | Precompiled scanner binaries (Windows) | ✅ Completed | | Better Pattern Matching | 🔄 In Progress | | Full route (http://...) detection | 🔄 In Progress | | Query/body/params detection | 🔄 In Progress | | Precompiled scanner binaries (Linux,Mac) | 🔜 Next | | React/Vite-based advanced UI | 🧭 Planned | | cURL/Postman export | 🧭 Planned | | Request history & environment variables | 🧭 Planned |

📁 Project Structure (Overview)

express-api-tester/
│
├── package.json               # NPM config and dependencies
├── index.js                   # Main middleware entry point
│
├── lib/                       # JavaScript helper modules
│   └── python-runner.js       # Spawns the Python scanner from Node.js
│
├── scan/                      # Python scanner logic
│   ├── scan.py                # Entry point for scanning a project
│   └── parser/                # Parsing logic for Express routes
│       ├── route_extractor.py
│       └── utils.py
├── ├── bin/                   # (Planned) Python scanner compiled for each OS
│   ├── scan-win.exe           # Windows (coming soon)
│   ├── scan-mac               # macOS binary (coming soon)
│   └── scan-linux 
│
├── ui/                        # Web-based API Testing Interface
│   ├── public/                # HTML/JS/CSS UI (current version)
│   └── app/                   # (Planned) React/Vite version
│
├── routes/                    # Internal Express routes for UI + data
│   └── apitest.routes.js
│
├── examples/                  # Sample Express app to test apidev locally
│   └── basic-app/
│       └── app.js
│
└── README.md                  # You are here

🧪 How It Works

1. apidev statically scans your Express project with scan.py
2. It collects all app.get(...), router.post(...), etc.
3. Detected routes are sent to the browser interface
4. The UI lets you test endpoints with optional body and headers

⚙ Requirements

• Node.js v14 or newer
• Python 3.6+ (temporarily required for scanning)

📘 Example Output

[
  {
    "method": "POST",
    "path": "/users",
    "file": "routes/user.js"
  },
  {
    "method": "GET",
    "path": "/products/:id",
    "file": "routes/product.js"
  }
]

🧪 Test Locally

A full example is included under examples/basic-app.

cd examples/basic-app
node app.js

Then visit:
http://localhost:3000/__apitest

🤝 Notes for Contributors

We welcome contributors who want to improve or extend apidev. This project is actively evolving, and your input is valuable. Before submitting a pull request, please read the following notes:

🧠 Philosophy

• Keep the middleware integration lightweight and simple
• Ensure everything works locally without external services
• Follow the existing file structure and module separation
• Focus on developer-first experience and fast feedback loops

🧪 How You Can Help

• Improve the Python scanner to better detect:
  • req.params, req.query, and req.body
  • Imported route handlers (router.get('/', handler))
• Add binary support (bin/scan-win.exe, etc.) so Python is optional
• Enhance the UI with:
  • Authorization header helpers
  • Response formatting and collapsible sections
  • Export to cURL/Postman
• Help design the future React/Vite version in ui/app/

⚙ Development Guidelines

• Test changes using the demo app:

  node examples/basic-app/app.js

• Python debug output:

  print("Debug message", file=sys.stderr)

• JavaScript debug output:

  console.log("Debug message")

🔒 What Not to Add (Yet)

• No telemetry, network requests, or user tracking
• No third-party auth integrations (keep it local)
• No database dependencies

👨‍💻 Author

Jakaza
Built with ❤️ for devs who test fast and ship clean.

🛡 License

MIT