ts-backend-starter

CLI to scaffold a production-ready TypeScript backend from the template/ in this package. Instantly bootstrap an Express + TypeScript project with sensible defaults, scripts, and folder structure.

Quick start

Scaffold into a new directory:

npx ts-backend-starter my-api
cd my-api
npm install
cp example.env .env   # or copy manually on Windows
npm run dev

Scaffold into the current directory (must be empty):

npx ts-backend-starter

Show help:

npx ts-backend-starter --help

What you get (template overview)

• Language/Runtime: TypeScript, Node.js (Express)
• Dev tooling: ts-node, nodemon, typescript
• Logging: morgan
• HTTP essentials: cors, cookie-parser, body-parser
• Config: dotenv
• Database: mongoose (MongoDB)

Key scripts inside generated project (package.json):

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "nodemon",
    "start": "node build/index.js",
    "build": "npm i && tsc"
  }
}

Folder structure (simplified):

.
├─ index.ts                 # App entry
├─ routes/                  # Express routes
├─ controllers/             # Route handlers
├─ database/connection/     # Mongoose connection
├─ utils/                   # Helpers (config, logger)
├─ constants/               # App constants
├─ example.env              # Environment variables example
├─ tsconfig.json
├─ nodemon.json
└─ package.json

Environment variables (from example.env):

PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/my-db
JWT_SECRET=replace_me

CLI behavior

• If you pass a directory name, it will be created (if missing) and the template copied into it.
• If you omit the directory, the current working directory is used.
• The target directory must be empty to avoid accidental overwrites.

Commands you’ll commonly run after scaffolding:

npm install
cp example.env .env
npm run dev   # starts nodemon with ts-node

Build and run production build:

npm run build
npm start

Local development of this CLI

Test the package locally without publishing:

# From this repository root
npm pack

# In a separate temp folder
mkdir test-cli && cd test-cli && npm init -y
npx -y ../ts-backend-starter-*.tgz my-app

Or link globally:

# In this repo
npm link

# Anywhere else
ts-backend-starter my-app

Publish

npm login
npm publish

This package exposes the bin ts-backend-starter, so users can scaffold via npx ts-backend-starter.

Notes and customization

• The generated project is intentionally minimal; adjust tsconfig.json, add middlewares, or extend the folder layout as needed.
• To change what gets scaffolded, edit the contents of this repo’s template/ directory.