🚀 Scaffold Express + TypeScript Server

Quickly bootstrap a production‑ready Express + TypeScript + Zod server with a single command.

3 Built-in templates for MongoDB + Mongoose, PostgreSQL + Prisma and PostgreSQL + Drizzle

⚡ Compatibility

✅ Requirements

• Node.js 22 or newer
• Stable internet connection
• npm, pnpm, or yarn for installation

✨ Features

• ✅ TypeScript with ts-node and nodemon for development and pre-configured tsconfig.json
• ✅ Express.js pre‑configured with custom middlewares
• ✅ Zod for schema validation
• ✅ Mongoose for MongoDB integration
• ✅ Drizzle or Prisma for PostgreSQL integration
• ✅ Stylog from nhb-toolbox for colorful logging
• ✅ Biome or Prettier + ESLint for code formatting and linting (your choice during setup)
• ✅ nhb-scripts for easy build, commit, module scaffolding, and more
• ✅ Scaffolding via CLI – choose package manager, DB, ORM/ODM etc.
• ✅ Built‑in CI/CD workflow for automatic deployment to Vercel

📦 Usage

You don’t need to install anything globally. Run directly with your favorite package manager:

# Using npx
npx nhb-express@latest

# Using pnpm
pnpm dlx nhb-express@latest

# Using yarn
yarn dlx nhb-express@latest

Follow the interactive prompts:

• Choose a project name
• Select a database and ODM/ORM. Default is MongoDB + Mongoose.
• Select between Biome or Prettier+ESLint as your code formatter and linter. Default is Biome.
• Pick your package manager

Your new server will be scaffolded in the chosen folder with all dependencies installed.

🚀 Quick Start

After running the CLI:

cd <your-project-name>
pnpm dev     # or npm run dev / yarn dev
# Runs on port: 4242

📁 Project Structure

Mongoose

📁 <your-project-name>/
 ├─ 📁 .github/
 │   └─ 📁 workflows/
 │       └─ ⚙️ publish.yml     # GitHub Actions workflow for CI/CD (vercel deployment) 
 │
 ├─ 📁 .vscode/
 │   ├─ 📄 extensions.json     # Recommended Extensions for VS Code
 │   └─ 📄 settings.json       # VS Code Settings for better formatting
 │
 ├─ 📁 public/                 # Folder contains static files
 |   └─ 🖼️ favicon.png         # Favicon to show in client application(s) if supported, e.g. Browsers
 │
 ├─ 📁 scripts/                # Helper scripts for development purpose
 │
 ├─ 📁 src/
 │   ├─ 📁 app/                # All source (*.ts) files
 │   |   ├─ 📁 classes/        # Utility classes e.g. `QueryBuilder`, `ErrorWihStatus`
 │   |   ├─ 📁 configs/        # App configurations
 │   |   ├─ 📁 constants/      # Constant values
 │   |   ├─ 📁 errors/         # Custom error processors/handlers
 │   |   ├─ 📁 middlewares/    # Custom Express middlewares
 │   |   ├─ 📁 modules/        # Feature modules (controllers, services, etc.)
 │   |   ├─ 📁 routes/         # Route definitions
 │   |   ├─ 📁 types/          # Types for the App
 │   |   └─ 📁 utilities/      # Helper functions
 │   |
 │   ├─ 📄 app.ts              # Express app setup
 │   ├─ 📄 index.d.ts          # Global type declarations
 │   └─ 📄 server.ts           # Server bootstrap
 │
 ├─ 🔒 .env                    # Environment variables
 ├─ 🚫 .gitignore              # Ignore files/folders from being pushed/committed
 ├─ 🚫 .prettierignore         # Ignore files/folders from being formatted with prettier (used if Prettier is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ .prettierrc.json        # Prettier config (used if Prettier is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ biome.json              # Biome config (used if Biome is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ eslint.config.mjs       # ESLint config (used if Prettier + ESLint is selected: flat config, ready for TS)
 ├─ ⚙️ nhb.scripts.config.mjs  # Config for nhb-scripts
 ├─ ⚙️ nodemon.json            # Nodemon config
 ├─ ⚙️ package.json            # Auto-generated `package.json`
 ├─ 📃 README.md               # This file
 ├─ ⚙️ tsconfig.json           # Ready to use tsconfig
 └─ ⚙️ vercel.json             # Deployment config for Vercel

Prisma

📁 <your-project-name>/
 ├─ 📁 .github/
 │   └─ 📁 workflows/
 │       └─ ⚙️ publish.yml     # GitHub Actions workflow for CI/CD (vercel deployment) 
 │
 ├─ 📁 .vscode/
 │   ├─ 📄 extensions.json     # Recommended Extensions for VS Code
 │   └─ 📄 settings.json       # VS Code Settings for better formatting
 │
 ├─ 📁 prisma/
 │   └─ 📄 schema.prisma       # Prisma Schema file
 │
 ├─ 📁 public/                 # Folder contains static files
 |   └─ 🖼️ favicon.png         # Favicon to show in client application(s) if supported, e.g. Browsers
 │
 ├─ 📁 scripts/                # Helper scripts for development purpose
 │
 ├─ 📁 src/
 │   ├─ 📁 app/                # All source (*.ts) files
 │   |   ├─ 📁 configs/        # App configurations (CORS, Database, ENV etc.)
 │   |   ├─ 📁 constants/      # Constant values
 │   |   ├─ 📁 errors/         # Custom error Class/processors/handlers
 │   |   ├─ 📁 middlewares/    # Custom Express middlewares
 │   |   ├─ 📁 modules/        # Feature modules (controllers, services, etc.)
 │   |   ├─ 📁 routes/         # Route definitions
 │   |   ├─ 📁 types/          # Types for the App
 │   |   └─ 📁 utilities/      # Helper functions
 │   | 
 │   ├─ 📁 prisma/             # Prisma Client generated files
 │   |
 │   ├─ 📄 app.ts              # Express app setup
 │   ├─ 📄 index.d.ts          # Global type declarations
 │   └─ 📄 server.ts           # Server bootstrap
 │
 ├─ 🔒 .env                    # Environment variables
 ├─ 🚫 .gitignore              # Ignore files/folders from being pushed/committed
 ├─ 🚫 .prettierignore         # Ignore files/folders from being formatted with prettier (used if Prettier is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ .prettierrc.json        # Prettier config (used if Prettier is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ biome.json              # Biome config (used if Biome is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ eslint.config.mjs       # ESLint config (used if Prettier + ESLint is selected: flat config, ready for TS)
 ├─ ⚙️ nhb.scripts.config.mjs  # Config for nhb-scripts
 ├─ ⚙️ nodemon.json            # Nodemon config
 ├─ ⚙️ prisma.config.ts        # Prisma config
 ├─ ⚙️ package.json            # Auto-generated `package.json`
 ├─ 📃 README.md               # Instructions and information
 ├─ ⚙️ tsconfig.json           # Ready to use tsconfig
 └─ ⚙️ vercel.json             # Deployment config for Vercel

Drizzle

📁 <your-project-name>/
 ├─ 📁 .github/
 │   └─ 📁 workflows/
 │       └─ ⚙️ publish.yml     # GitHub Actions workflow for CI/CD (vercel deployment) 
 │
 ├─ 📁 .vscode/
 │   ├─ 📄 extensions.json     # Recommended Extensions for VS Code
 │   └─ 📄 settings.json       # VS Code Settings for better formatting
 │
 ├─ 📁 migrations/             # Migration files (will be) generated by drizzle-kit 
 │
 ├─ 📁 public/                 # Folder contains static files
 |   └─ 🖼️ favicon.png         # Favicon to show in client application(s) if supported, e.g. Browsers
 │
 ├─ 📁 scripts/                # Helper scripts for development purpose
 │
 ├─ 📁 src/                    # All source (*.ts) files
 │   ├─ 📁 app/                # Application logic and internal configs
 │   |   ├─ 📁 configs/        # App configurations (CORS, ENV etc.)
 │   |   ├─ 📁 constants/      # Constant values
 │   |   ├─ 📁 errors/         # Custom error Class/processors/handlers
 │   |   ├─ 📁 middlewares/    # Custom Express middlewares
 │   |   ├─ 📁 modules/        # Feature modules (controllers, services, etc.)
 │   |   ├─ 📁 routes/         # Route configuration
 │   |   ├─ 📁 types/          # Types for the App
 │   |   └─ 📁 utilities/      # Helper functions
 │   |
 │   ├─ 📁 drizzle/            # Drizzle schema and initialization
 │   |   ├─ 📁 schema/         # Contains drizzle schemas
 │   |   └─ 📄 index.ts        # Drizzle initialization with all schemas
 │   |
 │   ├─ 📄 app.ts              # Express app setup
 │   ├─ 📄 index.d.ts          # Global type declarations
 │   └─ 📄 server.ts           # Server bootstrap
 │
 ├─ 🔒 .env                    # Environment variables
 ├─ 🚫 .gitignore              # Ignore files/folders from being pushed/committed
 ├─ 🚫 .prettierignore         # Ignore files/folders from being formatted with prettier (used if Prettier is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ .prettierrc.json        # Prettier config (used if Prettier is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ biome.json              # Biome config (used if Biome is selected as formatter)
 ├─ ⚙️ eslint.config.mjs       # ESLint config (used if Prettier + ESLint is selected: flat config, ready for TS)
 ├─ ⚙️ nhb.scripts.config.mjs  # Config for nhb-scripts
 ├─ ⚙️ nodemon.json            # Nodemon config
 ├─ ⚙️ package.json            # Auto-generated `package.json`
 ├─ 📃 README.md               # Instructions and information
 ├─ ⚙️ tsconfig.json           # Ready to use tsconfig
 └─ ⚙️ vercel.json             # Deployment config for Vercel

⚙️ CI/CD Workflow

A ready‑to‑use GitHub Actions workflow is included in:

.github/workflows/publish.yml

✅ What it does:

• Runs on push to your main branch
• Builds your project
• Deploys automatically to Vercel (configured via vercel.json)

✅ How to use:

1. Push your project to a GitHub repository.
2. Add your Vercel tokens/secrets as GitHub repository secrets: Go to Settings >> Secrets and variables >> Actions >> Repository secrets and add these variables:
   • VERCEL_ORG_ID
   • VERCEL_PROJECT_ID
   • VERCEL_TOKEN
3. Every time you push to main and version is updated, GitHub Actions will trigger and deploy your server to Vercel.

You can customize the workflow to fit your own CI/CD needs (e.g., change branches, add tests, deploy elsewhere).

🛠️ nhb-scripts

This project comes integrated with nhb-scripts — a cli package also by Nazmul Hassan:

✨ What you get:

• npm/pnpm/yarn run build → builds your project
• npm/pnpm/yarn run commit → guided commit with semantic messages
• npm/pnpm/yarn run module → scaffolds new modules
• npm/pnpm/yarn run fix → auto‑fix lint issues with ESLint or Biome
• npm/pnpm/yarn run format → formats with Prettier or Biome
• npm/pnpm/yarn run typecheck → runs TypeScript type checking
• and more… configurable via nhb.scripts.config.mjs

You can explore and extend nhb-scripts in your project as needed.

✨ Author

Made with ❤️ by Nazmul Hassan