Create Node MVC

A powerful CLI tool to scaffold complete Node.js MVC projects with multiple language and framework options, just like Laravel does.

🚀 Installation

npm install -g create-node-mvc

📋 Usage

create-node-mvc my-app

This will start an interactive prompt to configure your project:

Language Options

• 🔷 TypeScript (Recommended) - Full type safety and modern features
• 🟨 JavaScript - Classic Node.js with CommonJS modules

Framework Options

• ⚡ Express.js - Simple & Fast traditional MVC framework
• 🏗️ NestJS - Enterprise-grade framework with decorators and modules

Database Options

• 🍃 MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• 🐬 MySQL with Sequelize/TypeORM
• 🐘 PostgreSQL with Sequelize/TypeORM
• 📱 SQLite with Sequelize/TypeORM

Project Types

• 🌐 API Only - REST endpoints only
• 🎨 Full MVC - With views and frontend assets
• 📊 GraphQL API - GraphQL with Apollo (NestJS only)
• 🔄 Microservices - Microservice architecture (NestJS only)

✨ Supported Combinations

| Language | Framework | Structure | Best For | | -------------- | ----------- | --------------- | ----------------------- | | TypeScript | Express | Traditional MVC | Full-stack web apps | | JavaScript | Express | Traditional MVC | Simple APIs & websites | | TypeScript | NestJS | Module-based | Enterprise applications | | JavaScript | NestJS | Module-based | Modern APIs |

🎯 Features

Core Features

• Multiple languages: TypeScript & JavaScript support
• Multiple frameworks: Express.js & NestJS architectures
• Authentication: JWT tokens with bcrypt password hashing
• Database flexibility: MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite
• Validation: Joi (Express) or class-validator (NestJS)
• Error handling: Comprehensive error middleware and logging
• Security: Helmet, CORS, rate limiting built-in

Optional Extras

• 🐳 Docker - Complete containerization setup
• 🔍 ESLint & Prettier - Code formatting and linting
• 🧪 Jest Testing - Unit and integration test setup
• 🪝 Git Hooks - Husky pre-commit hooks
• 📚 API Documentation - Swagger/OpenAPI (NestJS)

📂 Generated Project Structures

Express.js Structure (Traditional MVC)

my-app/
├── src/
│   ├── config/           # Database and app configuration
│   ├── controllers/      # Route controllers
│   ├── models/          # Database models
│   ├── routes/          # Express routes
│   ├── middlewares/     # Custom middlewares
│   ├── utils/           # Utilities (TypeScript)
│   ├── validators/      # Joi validators (JavaScript)
│   └── app.ts/js        # Express application
├── tests/ (optional)
├── .env.example
├── tsconfig.json (TypeScript only)
└── package.json

NestJS Structure (Module-based)

my-app/
├── src/
│   ├── auth/            # Authentication module
│   │   ├── dto/         # Data transfer objects
│   │   ├── guards/      # Auth guards
│   │   ├── strategies/  # Passport strategies
│   │   ├── auth.controller.ts
│   │   ├── auth.service.ts
│   │   └── auth.module.ts
│   ├── users/           # Users module
│   │   ├── dto/         # User DTOs
│   │   ├── entities/    # User entities
│   │   ├── users.controller.ts
│   │   ├── users.service.ts
│   │   └── users.module.ts
│   ├── config/          # Configuration
│   ├── app.module.ts    # Root module
│   └── main.ts/js       # NestJS bootstrap
├── test/ (optional)
├── tsconfig.json (TypeScript only)
└── package.json

🚀 Quick Start Examples

Create a TypeScript Express API

create-node-mvc my-api
# Select: TypeScript → Express → MongoDB → API Only
cd my-api
npm install
npm run dev

Create a NestJS Enterprise App

create-node-mvc my-enterprise-app
# Select: TypeScript → NestJS → PostgreSQL → API Only → Docker + Testing
cd my-enterprise-app
npm install
npm run start:dev

Create a Simple JavaScript API

create-node-mvc my-simple-api
# Select: JavaScript → Express → MongoDB → API Only
cd my-simple-api
npm install
npm start

📖 Available Scripts

After generating your project, you can use these commands:

Express.js Projects

npm start          # Start production server
npm run dev        # Start development server with nodemon/ts-node
npm run build      # Compile TypeScript (TypeScript only)
npm test           # Run tests (if testing enabled)
npm run lint       # Run ESLint (if linting enabled)

NestJS Projects

npm run start          # Start production server
npm run start:dev      # Start development server with watch
npm run start:debug    # Start with debugging
npm run build          # Build the application
npm run test           # Run unit tests
npm run test:e2e       # Run end-to-end tests

🎛️ Configuration

Environment Variables

Your generated project includes a .env.example file. Copy it to .env and configure:

# Database
DATABASE_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/your-app
# or for SQL databases
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/your-app

# JWT
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key

# Server
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development

# CORS (optional)
CORS_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000

Database Setup

• MongoDB: Ensure MongoDB is running locally or provide a connection string
• PostgreSQL/MySQL: Create a database and provide connection details
• SQLite: Database file will be created automatically

🔧 Customization

Adding New Routes (Express)

// src/routes/example.ts
import { Router } from "express";
const router = Router();

router.get("/", (req, res) => {
  res.json({ message: "Hello World" });
});

export default router;

Adding New Modules (NestJS)

# Generate new module
nest g module products
nest g controller products
nest g service products

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

📄 Development

To work on this CLI tool:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/create-node-mvc.git
cd create-node-mvc
npm install
npm run dev

🆚 Comparison with Other Tools

| Feature | create-node-mvc | create-next-app | @nestjs/cli | | ------------------- | ------------------- | --------------- | --------------- | | Multiple Languages | ✅ TS & JS | ❌ TS only | ❌ TS only | | Multiple Frameworks | ✅ Express & NestJS | ❌ Next only | ❌ NestJS only | | Database Support | ✅ 4 databases | ❌ None | ❌ Manual setup | | Authentication | ✅ Built-in JWT | ❌ Manual | ❌ Manual | | Docker Setup | ✅ Optional | ❌ Manual | ❌ Manual | | Testing Setup | ✅ Pre-configured | ❌ Manual | ✅ Basic |

📋 Roadmap

• [ ] React/Vue frontend integration
• [ ] GraphQL support for Express
• [ ] Prisma ORM support
• [ ] WebSocket support
• [ ] Microservices templates
• [ ] CI/CD pipeline templates

🏆 License

MIT © [Zebix]

Made with ❤️ for the Node.js community

Like Laravel's Artisan for Node.js 🚀