setup-node-api

setup-node-api scaffolds a minimal Node.js + Express API with sensible defaults.

Node.js 20.12.0 or newer is required.

Features

• Scaffold a ready-to-run Express API
• Choose JavaScript or TypeScript
• Use prompts interactively or pass CLI flags
• Validate project names before generation
• Avoid overwriting existing folders without confirmation
• Optionally skip dependency installation

Quick start

npx setup-node-api my-api

Run it against the latest published version explicitly:

npx setup-node-api@latest my-api

Create a TypeScript project:

npx setup-node-api my-api --typescript

Skip package installation:

npx setup-node-api my-api --no-install

Set a custom port:

npx setup-node-api my-api --port 8080

CLI usage

setup-node-api [project-name] [options]

Options

| Option | Description | | --- | --- | | --typescript | Generate the TypeScript template | | --no-install | Skip dependency installation | | --port <number> | Write a custom PORT value to .env | | -h, --help | Show help | | -V, --version | Show the installed CLI version |

If you omit some options, the CLI prompts for them in an interactive terminal.

Generated project

JavaScript template:

my-api/
|-- .env
|-- package.json
`-- src/
    `-- app.js

TypeScript template:

my-api/
|-- .env
|-- package.json
|-- tsconfig.json
`-- src/
    `-- app.ts

The generated project name in package.json is automatically set to the selected folder name.

Examples

Create a JavaScript project without installing dependencies:

setup-node-api my-api --no-install

Create a TypeScript project and set a custom port:

setup-node-api my-api --typescript --port 4000

Ask the CLI to guide you interactively:

setup-node-api

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run check

CI

GitHub Actions runs the test suite on Node.js 20 and 22 across Linux, Windows, and macOS for pushes to main and pull requests.

Notes

• In a non-interactive environment, provide the project name as an argument.
• If the target folder already exists, the CLI stops unless you explicitly confirm overwrite in an interactive terminal.
• prepublishOnly runs npm run check before publish.

License

MIT