Below is an improved version of your README.md that provides clearer instructions, better structure, and more context about the tool and its templates:

express-generate-api

A CLI tool to quickly generate a boilerplate for your Express API project

Overview

express-generate-api is a command-line tool that helps you kickstart your API development by generating a ready-to-use boilerplate for your Express project. The tool supports both JavaScript and TypeScript templates, so you can choose the one that best fits your development style.

When you run the command, the tool:

• Prompts you with questions to customize your project setup.
• Clones the selected template repository.
• Copies the template files into your desired project folder.
• Updates the project metadata (e.g., package.json) with your project name.
• Provides you with next steps for development.

Installation

Install express-generate-api globally using npm:

npm install express-generate-api -g

Usage

After installing the tool globally, navigate to the directory where you want your project created and run:

express-generate-api

You will be prompted with a few questions to customize your new project. Once completed, the tool will generate your Express API boilerplate in the specified folder.

Templates

The tool supports two types of templates:

• JavaScript Template:
  express-api-template-js

• TypeScript Template:
  express-api-template-ts

These templates provide a basic folder structure and setup for an Express API. For details on the folder structure, check out the basic-folder-structure-node-api repository.

Next Steps

Once your project has been generated, follow these steps to get started:

1. Navigate to your project folder (if created in a separate folder):

   cd your-project-name

2. Install project dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start development:

   • For development:

     npm run dev

   • For production:

     npm start

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to fork this repository, open issues, or submit pull requests if you have ideas to improve the tool.

License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.