Nodibranch

Stop wasting time on setup. Engineered to eliminate repetition. Instantly generate comprehensive Node.js/Express structures, seamlessly connecting routes, controllers, and folders..

Nodibranch (nb) is a lightweight CLI that removes the repetitive setup work from every new Express project. Initialize a full project structure, generate CRUD-ready routes and controllers, or just spin up a controller on its own — all from one command, or through a guided interactive menu.

Features

• Interactive menu — Run nb with no arguments and navigate through a clean, description-rich interface
• Full project init — Folder structure, templates, .env file, and dependency installation in one shot
• Route & controller generation — Pair them together or generate each independently
• Granular method filtering — Use --only or --except to include or exclude specific CRUD methods at generation time
• CRUD out of the box — Every controller ships with create, readOne, readAll, update, and delete pre-wired

Installation

# for global installation
npm install -g nodibranch

# for local installation
npm install nodibranch

# for global installation
npx nodibranch

Available as both nodibranch and the short alias nb.

Usage

Interactive mode

The fastest way to get started — run with no arguments:

nb

A guided menu walks you through every available action with live descriptions.

Initialize a project

Sets up the full project structure: folders, templates, .env, and installs base dependencies automatically.

nb init
nb -i        # shorthand

Generate a route + controller

Creates a route file in src/routes/ and its matching controller in src/controllers/.

# All CRUD methods
nb -r client

# Only the methods you need
nb -r client --only:create,readAll

# Everything except what you don't
nb -r client --except:delete

Example — nb -r client generates:

src/routes/clientRoutes.js

import { Router } from 'express';
import * as clientController from '../controllers/clientController.js';

const router = Router();

router.get('/', clientController.getAll);
router.get('/:id', clientController.getOne);
router.post('/', clientController.create);
router.put('/:id', clientController.update);
router.delete('/:id', clientController.remove);

export default router;

src/controllers/clientController.js

export const create = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    res.status(201).json({ 
      message: "smthng created successfully",
      data: req.body 
      });
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
  }
};

export const getOne = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    res.status(200).json({
      message: "Fetch ... with ID successful",
      data : "res here"
      })
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
  }
};

// ... getAll, update, remove

Generate a controller only

Creates a standalone controller in src/controllers/.

nb -c client

# Only the methods you need
nb -c client --only:create,update

# Everything except what you don't
nb -c client --except:delete

Example — nb -c client --only:create,update generates:

src/controllers/clientController.js

export const create = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    res.status(201).json({ 
      message: "smthng created successfully",
      data: req.body 
      });
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
  }
};

export const update = async (req, res) => {
  try {
    res.status(200).json({ 
      message: "Update successful "
      });
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(500).json({ 
      error: error.message 
      });
  }
};

Route Autoloading & How to Call Routes

When you initialize a project with Nodibranch, the generated src/index.js automatically imports and registers all route files in the src/routes/ directory ending with Routes.js.

Each route is mounted on /api/<name> (where <name> is the route filename prefix in lowercase).

For example, generating nb -r client automatically registers the client route. You can call the endpoints as follows:

| HTTP Method | Endpoint | Controller Function | Description | |---|---|---|---| | POST | /api/client | create | Create a resource | | GET | /api/client | getAll | Fetch all resources | | GET | /api/client/:id | getOne | Fetch a single resource by ID | | PUT | /api/client/:id | update | Update a resource | | DELETE | /api/client/:id | remove | Remove a resource |

Help

nb -h
nb help

# Command-specific help
nb init -h
nb -r -h
nb -c -h

Method Names (Filters)

Used with the --only and --except options:

| Filter Name | Generated Function Name | Description | |---|---|---| | create | create | POST — create a resource | | readOne | getOne | GET — fetch a single resource by ID | | readAll | getAll | GET — fetch all resources | | update | update | PUT/PATCH — update a resource | | delete | remove | DELETE — remove a resource |

License

MIT