Node Express API Boilerplate

This project is based on the Node API and Client Boilerplate. Required node version is 9.11.2. The API app is powered by Express and used as API service for the Create React App Boilerplate.

Other API App Boilerplates

• Node Express API Mockup Data Boilerplate –  non-database API server powered by Express
• Rails API Boilerplate –  API server powered by Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL database

Starting the App

Note: Only change the environment variables for POSTGRES_USER and POSTGRES_PASSWORD if working on local machine.

Copy .env.dist to .env and change the values of the environment variables if needed.

PORT=7770
ALLOW_ORIGIN=http://localhost:7771
JWT_SECRET=jwtsecretcode
HASH=sha1hash1.sha1hash2.sha1hash3
POSTGRES_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_DB=express_api_dev
POSTGRES_USER=express_api_user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=root

NOTE: Generate random hashes and concatenate the hashes with “.”. The same hashes should also be used in the React client app. The more hashes, the better.

Then run the following commands:

yarn
yarn start

Note: The database must be created and initialized after starting the app on fresh installation. See Database using PostgreSQL and Sequelize section. See Bash Commands section for Docker.

Access the app at http://localhost:7770.

Docker

Download and install the Docker Community Edition.

Note: See Bash Commands section for Docker.

Database using PostgreSQL and Sequelize

Installing PostgreSQL

Mac: Getting Started with PostgreSQL on Mac OSX
Windows: Installing PostgreSQL, Creating a User, and Creating a Database

NOTE: For Mac users, you can run the PostgreSQL server on a separate terminal console by running the following command:

postgres -D /usr/local/var/postgres

Create and Initialize Database

Open a terminal console and run the following commands:

sequelize db:create
sequelize db:migrate
sequelize db:seed:all

To drop database, run the following command:

sequelize db:drop

See Bash Commands section for Docker.

Bash Commands

On the root directory of the project, run the following commands:

Note: To view the Docker containers, open another terminal console then enter docker ps. To manage separate Docker instance for API, open another terminal console and run the commands below.

Docker

Command	Description
bin/install	Build the Docker containers, initialise database and start the app
bin/reinstall	Re-build containers, re-initialise database and start the app
bin/start	Start all the services (API and database)
bin/stop	Stop all the services
bin/console <container ID or Name>	Access the terminal console of the API container

Database

Local

Command	Description
bin/pg/local/start	Start the PostgreSQL server (for Mac users only)
bin/pg/local/resetdb	Drop and re-initialise database
bin/pg/local/migrate	Run new schema migration
bin/pg/local/migrateundo	Revert the recent schema migration
bin/pg/local/seed <seed file>	Run specific data seed file with or without .js extension
bin/pg/local/seedundo <seed file>	Revert the seed of specific data seed file
bin/pg/local/psql	Access the database console

Docker

• To run the commands for Docker database service, simply remove the local from the command
• The start command works only in local machine
• Used bin/pg/psql <database container ID or Name> to access the database console

Users

Use the following credentials to test different API responses. Default password for all accounts is password.

Name	Email	Description
Super Admin User	[email protected]	Has wildcard access
Admin User	[email protected]	Has wildcard access but Admin › Users › Delete is excluded
Common User	[email protected]	Can access My Profile, Admin › Dashboard, Users, Users › View, and Settings
Referrer User	[email protected]	When redirect is set without the domain, e.i. /admin/dashboard, user shall be redirected to internal page if no location path (referrer) found on the Sign In page
Redirect User	[email protected]	When redirect is set with complete URL, e.i. https://github.com/anthub-services, user shall be redirected to external page if no location path (referrer) found on the Sign In page
Blocked User	[email protected]	User is signed in but the account is blocked
Unauthorized User	<any invalid email>	Simply enter wrong email and/or password

Docker Boilerplates

The following boilerplates can be used to install and run the API and client boilerplates in a Docker container.

• Docker for Node API Mockup Data and Client Boilerplates
• Docker for Node API and Client Boilerplates
• Docker for Rails API and Client Boilerplates