Generate Express TS API

Scaffold an Express + TypeScript API with one command.

• Creating an App – How to create a new API.
• Available Scripts – Commands inside a generated project.
• What’s Included? – Features and defaults.

Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Quick Overview

npx generate-express-ts-api my-api
cd my-api
npm install
docker compose up -d
npm run db:migrate
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:4000/api/v1.

(npx comes with npm 5.2+.)

Get Started Immediately

You don’t need to wire Express, TypeScript, an ORM, JWT, or Docker by hand. Sensible defaults are chosen for you so you can focus on your API.

Create a project, install dependencies, and you’re good to go.

Creating an App

You’ll need Node.js 18 or later on your local machine. We recommend the latest LTS. You can use nvm (macOS/Linux) or nvm-windows to switch Node versions between projects.

Docker is optional but recommended when using PostgreSQL or MySQL.

To create a new app, run:

npx

npx generate-express-ts-api my-api

npm

npm init generate-express-ts-api my-api

npm init <initializer> is available in npm 6+

Yarn

yarn create generate-express-ts-api my-api

It will create a directory called my-api inside the current folder. Inside that directory, it will generate the project structure (default: MikroORM + PostgreSQL + JWT + Docker).

With prompts skipped:

npx generate-express-ts-api my-api --yes

Customize during scaffold:

npx generate-express-ts-api my-api --yes --orm prisma --database mysql
npx generate-express-ts-api my-api --yes --orm typeorm --no-jwt --deploy none
npx generate-express-ts-api my-api --yes --deploy pm2
npx generate-express-ts-api my-api --yes --provider giget
npx generate-express-ts-api my-api --yes --package-manager pnpm

Options

| Option | Description | Default | | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | | --yes, -y | Skip prompts and use defaults | off | | --orm <name> | mikroorm | sequelize | prisma | typeorm | mikroorm | | --database <type> | postgres | mysql | sqlite | postgres | | --jwt / --no-jwt | Include JWT auth module | on | | --deploy <mode> | docker | pm2 | none | docker | | --docker / --no-docker | Alias for --deploy docker / --deploy none | — | | --pm2 | Alias for --deploy pm2 | — | | --redis / --no-redis | Include Redis + Socket.IO deps | off | | --git / --no-git | Initialize a git repository | on | | --package-manager <pm> | npm | pnpm | yarn | bun | npm | | -h, --help | Show help | |

A typical generated project looks like this (MikroORM default):

my-api
├── README.md
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── docker-compose.yml
├── Dockerfile
├── mikro-orm.config.ts
├── .env
├── .env.example
└── src
    ├── index.ts
    ├── bootstrap/
    │   ├── app.ts
    │   ├── index.ts
    │   └── routes.ts
    ├── config/
    ├── infrastructure/
    │   ├── auth/
    │   ├── database/
    │   │   ├── entities/
    │   │   └── migrations/
    │   └── socket.ts
    ├── modules/
    │   ├── auth/
    │   └── users/
    ├── scripts/
    ├── shared/
    │   ├── errors/
    │   ├── middlewares/
    │   └── types/
    └── tests/

The template keeps bootstrapping, domain modules, infrastructure adapters, and shared utilities separate so the project can grow without moving files around immediately. Once generation is done:

cd my-api
npm install

Inside the newly created project, you can run the built-in commands below.

Package Manager Notes

Generated projects include Express 5 type overrides so express-validation does not pull incompatible Express 4 types:

• npm uses overrides in package.json
• Yarn uses resolutions in package.json
• pnpm 11+ uses overrides in pnpm-workspace.yaml

When using --provider giget, the CLI downloads the GitHub repository directly and skips the giget template registry.

Available Scripts

In the project directory, you can run:

npm run dev

Runs database migrations, then starts the API in development mode with Nodemon. Open http://localhost:4000/api/v1.

The server reloads when you change source files.

Tip: DEBUG=express:* is enabled in the default dev script, so Express may print verbose router logs. Remove express:* from package.json if you want quieter output.

npm run db:migrate

Applies pending ORM migrations.

If Docker was included, start the database first:

docker compose up -d

npm run migration:generate

Creates a new migration (ORM-specific CLI under the hood).

npm run build

Compiles TypeScript to the dist folder.

npm start

Runs the compiled production build from dist. If the app was generated with --deploy pm2, the generated start command uses PM2 runtime.

npm run lint

Runs ESLint on src.

Philosophy

• One command: Bootstrap a production-shaped Express API without assembling packages by hand.
• Sensible defaults: MikroORM + PostgreSQL + JWT + Docker work out of the box; flip flags when you need something else.
• No lock-in to one ORM: Choose MikroORM, Sequelize, Prisma, or TypeORM at scaffold time.
• Own your code: Generated projects are plain Node/TypeScript — edit anything; there is no hidden runtime beyond normal dependencies.

What’s Included?

Your environment will have everything you need to build a modern Express API:

• Express 5 + TypeScript
• MikroORM by default (or Sequelize / Prisma / TypeORM)
• PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite
• Optional JWT auth (Passport + bcrypt)
• Optional production runtime: Docker (Dockerfile) or PM2
• Optional Docker Compose for DB/Redis
• Optional Redis + Socket.IO
• Migrations wired to npm run db:migrate
• Winston / express-winston logging
• ESLint + Prettier baseline

The tradeoff is that these tools are preconfigured to work together. You can change any of it after scaffold — it’s your project.

Contributing

Issues and PRs are welcome in the generate-express-ts-api repository.

Releasing

1. Bump version in packages/generate-express-ts-api/package.json.
2. Commit the change.
3. Tag and push:

git tag v0.0.5
git push origin v0.0.5

The Release workflow will:

• smoke-test the CLI
• publish generate-express-ts-api to npm
• create a GitHub Release with notes

Requires NPM_TOKEN (or npm Trusted Publishing configured for workflow file release.yml).

License

MIT