Express TypeScript Generator

A command-line tool to quickly scaffold an Express application skeleton pre-configured with TypeScript, modern tooling, and optional stylesheet or view engine support.

Inspired by express-generator.

Features

• TypeScript Native: Pre-configured tsconfig.json, source files in src/, and ES Modules imports.
• Modern Dev Tooling: Live reloading using nodemon and ts-node for seamless TypeScript execution.
• Environment Configuration: Ready-to-go dotenv configuration.
• Cross-Platform Static Building: Multi-platform node script for copying public assets & templates to dist for compilation.
• Multiple Options: Supports CSS preprocessors (Sass, Less) and popular view engines (EJS, Pug, Handlebars).
• Git Ready: Built-in option to initialize git repository and generate .gitignore.

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Installation

The package is published on npm as @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator and exposes the express-ts command.

Install it globally:

npm install -g @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator

Then generate a project:

express-ts [options] [dir]

You can also run it without installing globally:

npx @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator [options] [dir]

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Usage

After global installation, use the CLI command:

express-ts [options] [dir]

For one-off usage, prefix the same arguments with the package name:

npx @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator [options] [dir]

Examples:

# Generate an API project in ./my-app
express-ts --git --pm npm my-app

# Or run directly from npm without a global install
npx @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator --ejs --css sass my-web-app

Options

Flag	Option	Description
-h	--help	Output usage information
	--version	Output the version number
-e	--ejs	Add EJS engine support
	--pug	Add Pug engine support
	--hbs	Add Handlebars engine support
	--no-view	Use static HTML instead of a view engine (default)
-c	--css <engine>	Add stylesheet engine support (css, sass, less) (default: css)
-g	--git	Add .gitignore and initialize a git repository
-f	--force	Force generation in a non-empty directory
-p	--pm <manager>	Specify package manager: npm, yarn, pnpm, bun (default: npm)

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Quick Start

1. Create a New Project

npx @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator --git --pm npm my-app

2. Start Development

cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

3. Scaffold a Project with EJS and Sass

npx @veton.milaimi/express-ts-generator --ejs --css sass my-web-app

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Generated Project Scripts

Inside the generated project directory, you will have access to the following npm scripts:

• Start development server (with hot-reloading):

  npm run dev

• Build the project (compiles TypeScript to dist/ and copies static assets):

  npm run build

• Start the compiled application in production mode:

  npm start

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License

MIT