API Boilerplate — Express + Prisma + JWT

Production-ready REST API with authentication, database, validation, rate limiting, tests, and Docker.

Quick Start

cp .env.example .env
npm install
npx prisma db push
npm run dev

Server runs at http://localhost:4000.

Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env and adjust as needed:

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	4000	HTTP port
JWT_SECRET	(required)	Secret used to sign JWTs — change before production
DATABASE_URL	file:./dev.db	Prisma connection string (SQLite by default)
RATE_LIMIT_MAX	100	Max requests per IP per 15-minute window

To use PostgreSQL:

1. Change provider in prisma/schema.prisma to "postgresql"
2. Set DATABASE_URL to your Postgres connection string
3. Run npx prisma db push

Features

• Express — fast, unopinionated, well-documented
• Prisma ORM — type-safe database access (SQLite/Postgres)
• JWT auth — signup/login with bcrypt, middleware
• Zod validation — request body validation with detailed errors
• Rate limiting — configurable per-IP limits
• Helmet — security headers
• Tests — Node.js native test runner
• Docker — Dockerfile for production builds
• CI — GitHub Actions workflow

API

GET  /api/health        → health check
POST /api/auth/signup   → create account (email, password, name?)
POST /api/auth/login    → login (email, password)
GET  /api/users/me      → get current user (auth required)
GET  /api/users         → list users (auth required)

Example: signup + login

# Signup
curl -X POST http://localhost:4000/api/auth/signup \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"dev@example.com","password":"password123","name":"Dev"}'

# Login
curl -X POST http://localhost:4000/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"dev@example.com","password":"password123"}'

# Authenticated request
curl http://localhost:4000/api/users/me \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Scripts

npm run dev        # start with --watch
npm start          # production start
npm test           # run tests
npm run db:push    # push Prisma schema
npm run db:seed    # seed sample data
npm run db:studio  # open Prisma Studio

License

MIT

Aspen Grove

Standalone product package (MIT). Meta mesh: aspen-grove.
Third-party checklist: THIRD_PARTY.md.