TypeScript Express Mongoose Starter: A Comprehensive Starter Boilerplate Guide
Tags: typescript, express, mongoose, docker
Published: 2023-06-05 05:20:43

Are you looking to build a robust Node.js API using TypeScript, Express.js, and Mongoose? Look no further! The TypeScript Express Mongoose Starter provides a solid foundation for developing scalable and maintainable web APIs with ease. In this article, we’ll explore the features, installation process, configuration, and more.


## Features

The TypeScript Express Mongoose Starter comes packed with a variety of features to accelerate your API development process. Here are some of its key features:

1. **TypeScript:** Enjoy the benefits of static typing, enhanced code maintainability, and better developer tooling with TypeScript.
2. **Express.js:** Build powerful and flexible web APIs using the popular Express.js framework.
3. **Mongoose:** Utilize the elegant MongoDB object modeling library Mongoose for seamless integration with MongoDB databases.
4. **User Authentication:** Includes a pre-configured user authentication system with password hashing using bcrypt and JWT-based authentication.
5. **API Documentation:** Generate API documentation effortlessly with Swagger and Swagger UI integration.
6. **Error Handling:** Implement centralized error handling and consistent error responses across your application.
7. **Environment Configuration:** Manage your application’s configuration using environment variables with the help of the dotenv library.
8. **Linting and Formatting:** Maintain clean and consistent code with ESLint and Prettier pre-configured.
9. **Testing with Jest:** Write unit tests and run them using the Jest testing framework.
10. **Docker Integration:** Easily containerize your application using Docker for simplified deployment and scalability.
11. **Nginx Reverse Proxy:** Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy to enhance performance, security, and load balancing capabilities.
12. **Process Management:** Utilize PM2 or Nodemon for process management and automatic application restarts during development and production.
13. **SWC Compiler:** Utilize the SWC compiler for faster TypeScript compilation and improved performance.

## Installation
To create a new project using this starter template, follow these steps:

Open your terminal or command prompt.
Use the following command to scaffold the project:

```
$ npx typescript-express-mongoose-starter <project-name>
```
If you don’t specify a project name, the default name <u>typescript-express-mongoose-starter</u> will be used.

Alternatively, you can clone the repository and install the dependencies manually:

```
$ git clone https://github.com/ahmadjoya/typescript-express-mongoose-starter.git
$ cd typescript-express-mongoose-starter
$ npm install
```

## Configuration
Before starting the project, make sure to set up your database credentials in the .env.development.local file. This file is used for local development and should not be committed to version control. Here's an example of how the .env.development.local file should be structured:

```
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=27017
DB_DATABASE=dev
```
Make sure to replace the values according to your specific database setup. Remember to keep this file secure and avoid committing it to version control.

## Conclusion
The TypeScript Express Mongoose Starter provides an excellent foundation for building scalable and maintainable Node.js APIs. With features like TypeScript, Express.js, Mongoose, user authentication, API documentation, and more, you can kickstart your project with confidence. Follow the installation steps and configure your database, and you’ll be ready to dive into coding.

Visit the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/ahmadjoya/typescript-express-mongoose-starter) or [NPM package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/typescript-express-mongoose-starter) to explore the project and get started today!

Happy coding!