Express Mongoose Fast REST API

Quickly build RESTful APIs with Express and Mongoose.

Documentation

Github

npm

Have a look at the list of service and utility functions and other middleware and global functions.

Installation

npm i emfrest

This also installs express and mongoose, so you can dive right into making your API.

Usage

Basic

Create an API using Api.

const { Api } = require("emfrest");

Api(app, { model: Book, modelName: "book" });

Add your mongoose model as model, the example uses a model called Book.

Also give it a modelName. The example uses modelName as book. This creates your routes at /books. Make sure this is singular and unique among your routes.

For every Api you create, you will get the following routes:

Method	Route
GET	/books
POST	/books
GET	/books/:bookId
PUT	/books/:bookId
DELETE	/books/:bookId

Adding endpoint specific middleware

You can also have endpoint specific middleware. The preMiddleware option takes an array of Middlewares that will run before the controller function.

Api(app, {
  model: Book,
  modelName: "book",
  preMiddleware: [
    protect,
    myMiddlewareFunction1,
    myMiddlewareFunction2 /*...*/,
  ],
});

Route prefix for an endpoint

If you want to serve the API from a subpath, you can use the routePrefix option.

const { Api } = require("emfrest");

Api(app, { model: Book, modelName: "book", routePrefix: "/v1" });

This would result in the following routes

Method	Route
GET	/v1/books
POST	/v1/books
GET	/v1/books/:bookId
PUT	/v1/books/:bookId
DELETE	/v1/books/:bookId

Add to an existing app

Note: App should be connected to a database. App should also be able to read json data from requests (body-parser or express.json()).

1. Require Api and errorHandler from emfrest

   const { Api, errorHandler } = require("emfrest");

2. Add the errorHandler middleware at the end of your app, before app.listen().

   app.use(errorHandler);

3. Create an API using Api.

   Api(app, { model: Book, modelName: "book" });

   Add your mongoose model as model, the example uses a model called Book.

   Also give it a modelName. The example uses modelName as book. This creates your routes at /books. Make sure this is singular and unique among your routes.

4. Start your server. It should show the following line on startup

   Initialized api for book at /books
   

From scratch

1. Create a file server.js.

2. Add your express boilerplate code.

   const express = require("express");
   
   const app = express();
   
   app.use(express.json());
   
   app.get("/", (req, res) => {
     res.json({ success: true, message: "Check your api endpoint" });
   });
   
   const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
   const server = app.listen(PORT, () =>
     console.log(`Server started on port ${PORT}`)
   );

3. Connect to MongoDB

   const {
     Api,
     connectDB,
     errorHandler,
     handlePromiseRejections,
   } = require("emfrest");
   
   connectDB("mongodb://localhost:27017/library");

   You can use a connection string of your choice.

   We will use Api, errorHandler and handlePromiseRejections later.

4. Create your schema and mongoose model.

   const mongoose = require("mongoose");
   
   const BookSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
     name: {
       type: String,
     },
     description: {
       type: String,
     },
   });
   
   const Book = mongoose.model("Book", BookSchema);

5. Add the errorHandler middleware at the end of your app, before app.listen().

   app.use(errorHandler);

6. Create an API using Api.

   Api(app, { model: Book, modelName: "book" });

   Add your mongoose model as model, the example uses a model called Book.

   Also give it a modelName. The example uses modelName as book. This creates your routes at /books. Make sure this is singular and unique among your routes.

7. Handle promise rejections

   handlePromiseRejections(server);

Your code should now look like this:

const express = require("express");
const {
  Api,
  connectDB,
  errorHandler,
  handlePromiseRejections,
} = require("emfrest");

connectDB("mongodb://localhost:27017/library");

const mongoose = require("mongoose");

const BookSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  name: {
    type: String,
  },
  description: {
    type: String,
  },
  createdAt: {
    type: Date,
    default: Date.now,
  },
});

const Book = mongoose.model("Book", BookSchema);

const app = express();

app.use(express.json());

Api(app, { model: Book, modelName: "book" });

app.get("/", (req, res) => {
  res.json({ success: true, message: "Check your api endpoint" });
});

app.use(errorHandler);

const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
const server = app.listen(PORT, () =>
  console.log(`Server started on port ${PORT}`)
);

handlePromiseRejections(server);

Reusable Functions

Services

Service functions are used to make calls to your MongoDB database using your mongoose model.

1. Get All documents of a model with a query(optional).
2. Create a document.
3. Get a document by its ObjectId.
4. Update a document by its ObjectId.
5. Delete a document by its ObjectId.

Utilities

Utility functions to code faster

1. Create an error object with a message and http status code.
2. Connect to a MongoDB database.
3. Promise rejection handler.

Liked emfrest?

Enjoyed making your APIs faster? Star efmrest on Github.