2.0.2 • Published 9 months agoCLI

@excli/express

Licence

ISC

Version

2.0.2

Deps

Size

44 kB

Vulns

Weekly

Summary Dependency Versions

@excli/express — Modern Express.js Project Generator

What is @excli/express?

@excli/express is a CLI tool that scaffolds production-ready Express.js projects in seconds — with TypeScript, Docker, database integration, ORM, testing, and Git hooks included. No boilerplate. No manual config. Just start building.

Why Not Use `express-generator`?

Feature	`express-generator`	`@excli/express`
TypeScript support		Native TS & JS
Docker integration		One command
Database setup		MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, SQLite, MariaDB
ORM support		Prisma, Drizzle, TypeORM, Sequelize, Mongoose
Redis / caching		Built-in Redis support
Hot reload (dev)		Included
Testing setup		Vitest + Supertest
Git hooks (Husky)		Pre-commit & pre-push
Admin DB panels		phpMyAdmin, pgAdmin, Mongo Express
Authentication		Better Auth (drizzle and prisma only)
Reverse proxy setup		Nginx & Caddy & Traefik
Load balancing		Built-in config
Modern Node.js APIs		No deprecated methods
Actively maintained

Quick Start

No installation required. Just run:

npx @excli/express

Or install globally for repeated use:

npm install -g @excli/express
excli

Requirements

Node.js 20 or higher
A package manager: npm, yarn, pnpm, or bun
Docker (optional — only needed for database features)

Interactive Setup

The CLI walks you through a short, guided setup:

Project Name — Name your application
Language — Choose TypeScript or JavaScript
Project Mode — Development (lightweight) or Production (full Docker + database stack)
Dev Tools — Select from Git, Prettier, Husky, Vitest, Docker
Database Type — SQL or NoSQL
Database — MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, PostgreSQL, or MongoDB
ORM / ODM — Choose from Prisma, Drizzle, TypeORM, Sequelize, or Mongoose
Authentication (new) — Optionally set up Better Auth (available with Prisma & Drizzle)
Cache — Enable Redis for in-memory caching
Proxy — Choose Nginx, Caddy or Traefik
Proxy Mode — Reverse proxy and load balancing
Package Manager — npm, yarn, pnpm, bun

Running Your Project

cd my-project
pnpm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 — your Express server is live.

What's Included

Git Hooks with Husky

When enabled, Husky sets up Git hooks automatically:

Pre-commit — Runs linting and formatting before every commit
Pre-push — Runs your test suite before pushing to remote
Commit message validation — Enforces the Conventional Commits standard

Database Support

All databases come with a pre-configured admin panel at http://localhost:6969 after running pnpm run docker:up.

Database	Admin Panel	Port
MySQL	phpMyAdmin	6969
MariaDB	phpMyAdmin	6969
PostgreSQL	pgAdmin	6969
MongoDB	Mongo Express	6969
SQLite	—	—

Note: Admin panels may take a moment to initialize on first startup.

ORM / ODM Support

ORM	Supported Databases	TypeScript & JavaScript
Prisma	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite
Drizzle	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite
TypeORM	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite
Sequelize	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite
Mongoose	MongoDB only

Authentication Support (New)

@excli/express now includes built-in support for Better Auth — a modern, framework-agnostic authentication library.

Note: Currently, Better Auth integration is supported with Prisma and Drizzle adapters only (prisma with mongodb may also contain some clashes because of old prisma mongodb support but still its works)

Adapter	Status
Prisma	Supported
Drizzle	Supported

Docker Setup

Production mode includes a complete Docker configuration:

Dockerfile — Production-optimized container build
compose.yaml — Multi-service orchestration with correct volume paths
.env files — Separate environment configs for development and production

Reverse Proxy Setup

Choose between two options:

Feature	Nginx	Caddy	Traefik
Reverse proxy
Load balancing
Automatic HTTPS (TLS)	Manual	Automatic
Config style	`nginx.conf`	`Caddyfile`	`traefik.yaml`
Best for	Full control, high-traffic	Simplicity, auto SSL	Simplicity, auto SSL

Common Commands

pnpm run dev          # Start development server
pnpm run format       # Format code with Prettier
pnpm run build        # Compile TypeScript (TS projects only)
pnpm run docker:up    # Start Docker services
pnpm run docker:down  # Stop all Docker services

Troubleshooting

Port already in use? Update the ports in your .env file to resolve the conflict.

Docker not starting? Make sure Docker Desktop is running before executing pnpm run docker:up.

Husky hooks not triggering? Ensure Git is initialized, then run pnpm run prepare to register the hooks.

Proxy not routing traffic? Make sure your compose.yaml includes the proxy service and that no other process is bound to port 80.

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