Dex - Fast Express Backend Scaffolding CLI

A fast CLI tool to scaffold Express.js backend projects with TypeScript or JavaScript

---

Features

Instant Project Setup

• Interactive CLI prompts for project configuration
• Choose between JavaScript or TypeScript
• Optional MongoDB with Mongoose integration
• Support for npm, pnpm, yarn, and bun package managers

Smart Configuration

• Pre-configured Express server with best practices
• CORS and body parsing middleware included
• Environment variable management with .env files
• Dynamic MongoDB connection strings based on project name

Production-Ready Structure

• Clean, organized project structure
• Separate database configuration files
• Ready-to-use server entry point
• Proper .gitignore configuration

Developer Experience

• Fast development server with nodemon (like Vite for backend!)
• TypeScript support with proper configuration
• Automatic dependency installation
• Clear next-steps instructions after setup

Not a Framework

Dex is a scaffolding tool, not a framework. It generates a clean Express.js project with sensible defaults, giving you full control over your code without any lock-in or abstraction layers.

---

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher
• npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun (your choice!)

---

Quick Start

npm create express-dex

or

npx create-express-dex

That's it! The CLI will guide you through the setup process.

Usage

When you run npm create express-dex, you'll be prompted with the following questions:

1. Project Name: Enter your project name (default: my-dex-project)
2. Language: Choose between JavaScript or TypeScript
3. Package Manager: Select npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun
4. MongoDB: Choose whether to include MongoDB with Mongoose

Example Session

$ npm create express-dex

Welcome to Dex!

██████╗ ███████╗██╗  ██╗
██╔══██╗██╔════╝╚██╗██╔╝
██║  ██║█████╗   ╚███╔╝
██║  ██║██╔══╝   ██╔██╗
██████╔╝███████╗██╔╝ ██╗
╚═════╝ ╚══════╝╚═╝  ╚═╝

? What is the name of your project? : my-awesome-api
? Which language do you want to use? TypeScript
? Which package manager do you want to use? npm
? Do you want to use MongoDB with Mongoose? Yes

Scaffolding project in /path/to/my-awesome-api...
Setting up MongoDB...
Installing dependencies...

Success! Created my-awesome-api at /path/to/my-awesome-api

Inside that directory, you can run:

  npm run dev
    Starts the development server.

We suggest that you begin by typing:

  cd my-awesome-api
  npm run dev

---

Generated Project Structure

JavaScript Project

my-project/
├── src/
│   ├── db/              # MongoDB connection (if selected)
│   │   └── index.js
│   └── server.js        # Express server entry point
├── .env                 # Environment variables
├── .gitignore
├── package.json

TypeScript Project

my-project/
├── src/
│   ├── db/              # MongoDB connection (if selected)
│   │   └── index.ts
│   └── server.ts        # Express server entry point
├── .env                 # Environment variables
├── .gitignore
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

---

Environment Variables

Dex automatically generates a .env file with the following variables:

Without MongoDB

PORT=5000
CORS_ORIGIN=*

With MongoDB

PORT=5000
CORS_ORIGIN=*
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/my-project

---

Package Manager Support

Dex supports all major package managers:

Package Manager	Installation Command	Run Dev Server
npm	npm install	npm run dev
pnpm	pnpm install	pnpm run dev
yarn	yarn	yarn run dev
bun	bun install	bun run dev

The CLI will automatically use your selected package manager for installation and display the correct commands in the success message.

---

Project Structure (CLI Source)

dex/
├── src/
│   └── index.ts         # Main CLI logic
├── templates/
│   ├── js/              # JavaScript templates
│   │   ├── src/
│   │   ├── package.json
│   │   └── _gitignore
│   └── ts/              # TypeScript templates
│       ├── src/
│       ├── package.json
│       ├── tsconfig.json
│       └── _gitignore
├── bin/
│   └── index.js         # Compiled output
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

---

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

---

Made with ❤️ by the Viraj :)