PrismaXpress - Backend Starter Template

PrismaXpress is a backend starter template built using TypeScript, Express.js, Prisma ORM, and PostgreSQL. It follows a modular pattern and includes essential middleware and utility functions, providing a solid foundation for backend development.

Features

• TypeScript for type safety
• Express.js for building RESTful APIs
• Prisma ORM for database interaction with PostgreSQL
• Modular project structure for easy scalability
• Essential middleware (CORS, rate limiting, security headers)
• Logging with Pino
• Environment variable management with dotenv

Tech Stack

• TypeScript: Ensures strong typing and reduces runtime errors.
• Express.js: Lightweight and flexible web framework for building REST APIs.
• Prisma ORM: A modern ORM for Node.js and TypeScript to interact with PostgreSQL.
• PostgreSQL: Powerful open-source relational database.
• Pino: A fast and low-overhead logger for Node.js applications.
• Zod: A TypeScript-first schema validation library for validation and parsing.
• dotenv: Loads environment variables from a .env file to configure the app.
• CORS: Middleware to allow or restrict resources to be accessed from different origins.
• express-rate-limit: Middleware to limit repeated requests to public APIs.
• helmet: Helps secure Express apps by setting various HTTP headers.
• morgan: HTTP request logger middleware for node.js.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20.x
• PostgreSQL (locally or via cloud service)

Setup

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/fahimahammed/PrismaXpress.git
cd PrismaXpress

2. Install Dependencies

yarn install

3. Setup Environment Variables

Rename .env.example to .env:

cp .env.example .env

4. Prisma Setup

Generate the Prisma client:

yarn prisma:generate

Run Prisma migrations to set up your database schema:

yarn prisma:migrate

5. Start Development

To start the development server with hot-reloading:

yarn dev

This will start the server and watch for file changes using ts-node-dev.

6. Build the Project

To build the project for production:

yarn build

Then, start the built project:

yarn start

Project Structure

./prisma/                       # Prisma-related files
├── migrations/                 # Database migration files
│   └── 20250210110837_init/    # Initial migration file
│       └── migration.sql       # SQL statements for the initial migration
├── schema.prisma               # Prisma schema file that defines the data model
└── migration_lock.toml         # Lock file for Prisma migrations

./src/                          # Source code for the application
├── app.ts                      # Main entry point for the Express app
├── config/                     # Configuration files
│   ├── database.ts             # Database connection setup
│   ├── env.ts                  # Environment variables management
│   └── logger.ts               # Logger configuration (for Pino or similar)
├── errors/                     # Custom error handling
│   ├── ApiError.ts             # API error class for structured error responses
│   └── handleZodError.ts       # Handle errors from Zod schema validation
├── modules/                    # Core modules of the application
│   └── (your module files here) # Add your application modules (controllers, services, routes)
├── server.ts                   # Server setup and middleware configuration
├── types/                      # Type definitions for the app
│   ├── index.d.ts              # Global types and interfaces
│   └── response.interfaces.ts  # Interface for structuring API responses
└── utils/                      # Utility functions
    ├── catchAsync.ts           # Utility to handle async functions and catch errors
    └── sendResponse.ts         # Utility for sending consistent API responses

Available Scripts

• dev: Runs the server in development mode with ts-node-dev.
• build: Compiles the TypeScript code to JavaScript.
• start: Starts the server from the dist folder after building.
• prisma:generate: Generates Prisma client based on your schema.
• prisma:migrate: Applies any pending migrations to your database.
• seed: Seeds your database with initial data (run via ts-node prisma/seed.ts).

Middleware Included

• CORS: Cross-Origin Resource Sharing configuration
• Rate Limiting: Using express-rate-limit to limit API requests
• Security Headers: Using helmet to set security-related HTTP headers
• Request Logging: Using morgan and pino for logging requests