men-api-scaffold

A simple CLI tool to scaffold a modern MEN stack (MongoDB, Express, Node.js) API project using ES6 modules.

🚀 Usage

You can use this tool to create a new API project by running:

npx men-api-scaffold my-api

This will create a new folder my-api/ with the full project structure, including all configuration files and dependencies defined.

📁 What you get

• Express app with ES6 module support
• MongoDB integration via Mongoose
• Static file setup and middleware preconfigured
• .env.example and linting ready
• Modular folder structure for scalability

📝 Next steps

After generation:

cd my-api
npm install

• make sure to create .env based on the provided .example or copy it as logs show right before launch.

finally

npm run dev

[!IMPORTANT]

In case you are not using mongoDB in your pc you will get an MongooseServerSelectionError: connect ECONNREFUSED

⚠️ MongoDB Connection Requirements

This scaffold uses MongoDB with Mongoose. To run the project successfully, a valid MongoDB connection must be available.

🧩 1. Use Local MongoDB (default option)

By default, the scaffold expects MongoDB to be running locally at: mongodb://localhost:27017

✅ Steps to run it locally:

1. Install MongoDB Community Edition:

   • https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/community

2. Start MongoDB:

   • On Windows (using services):

   net start MongoDB
   

Or manually:

bashmongod

Verify it is running: bashmongo

• Set the .env file: Create your .env from the example file: bashcp .env.example .env Example content: envMONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/men-db PORT=4444

🌐 2. Use MongoDB Atlas (cloud)

• If you don't want to install MongoDB locally, use MongoDB Atlas: ✅ Steps:

1. Sign up at: https://www.mongodb.com/cloud/atlas

2. Create a new cluster (Shared Tier is free)

3. Click "Connect" > "Connect your application", and copy the connection string like: mongodb+srv://:@.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority

4. Replace , , , and with your actual values.

5. Paste it into your .env: envMONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]/my-db PORT=4444

📦 Project structure

The generated project includes:

my-api/
├── bin/
├── lib/
├── models/
├── public/
├── routes/
├── views/
├── app.js
├── .env.example
├── package.json
├── README.md
└── ...

🛠 Maintained by

Roberto Gomez Fabrega
GitHub Repository