gen-express-backend

gen-express-backend is a CLI tool that instantly generates a production-ready Express + MongoDB backend with JWT authentication, controllers, routes, models, middleware, and clean project structure.

Create a full backend project in one command.

🚀 Features

• Clean Express project structure
• MongoDB + Mongoose configuration
• JWT-based Authentication (Signup / Login / Logout)
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Protected routes using auth middleware
• User model with email & password
• Global error handling middleware
• Auto-generated .env file
• Nodemon for development
• Beginner-friendly, scalable structure

📦 Installation

Run directly using npx (recommended):

npx gen-express-backend myapp

Or install globally:

npm install -g gen-express-backend gen-express-backend myapp

📁 Project Structure

The generated project looks like this:

myapp/ ├── src/ │ ├── app.js │ ├── server.js │ ├── config/ │ │ └── db.js │ ├── controllers/ │ │ ├── authController.js │ │ └── userController.js │ ├── routes/ │ │ ├── authRoutes.js │ │ └── userRoutes.js │ ├── models/ │ │ └── User.js │ ├── middleware/ │ │ ├── authMiddleware.js │ │ └── errorMiddleware.js │ └── utils/ │ └── generateToken.js ├── .env └── package.json

🛠 Usage

1. Create a new project

npx gen-express-backend myapp

2. Install dependencies

cd myapp npm install

3. Start development server

npm run dev

Server runs at:

http://localhost:5000

🔐 Authentication API

POST /api/auth/signup

Creates a new user and returns JWT token.

POST /api/auth/login

Logs in user and returns JWT token.

POST /api/auth/logout

Logs out user (stateless JWT).

🔌 Protected Routes

GET /api/users

Returns all users (JWT protected).

Add header:

Authorization: Bearer <your_token>

🌱 Environment Variables

A default .env file is created:

PORT=5000 MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/testdb JWT_SECRET=supersecretjwtkey

Change JWT_SECRET in production.

📄 Requirements

• Node.js v14+
• MongoDB (local or cloud)

🤝 Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome to improve this CLI.

📜 License

MIT License
Copyright © 2025