express-ts-wizard

Create production-ready Express.js + TypeScript projects in seconds

The fastest way to bootstrap an Express 5.0 API with TypeScript. Zero config, interactive CLI, multiple strictness levels.

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Install

# Run directly with npx (recommended)
npx express-ts-wizard

# Or install globally
npm install -g express-ts-wizard
express-ts-wizard

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Why express-ts-wizard?

Setting up a new Express.js project with TypeScript involves a lot of boilerplate: configuring tsconfig.json, setting up hot-reload, adding proper types, handling graceful shutdown... express-ts-wizard does all of this for you in one command.

Features

• Express 5.0 - Latest version with improved async error handling
• TypeScript - Full type safety out of the box
• 3 Strictness Levels - Choose your TypeScript configuration: relaxed, moderate, or strict
• Hot Reload - Development server with instant restarts via tsx
• Production Ready - Graceful shutdown, health check endpoint, proper error handling
• Deterministic Builds - Generates package-lock.json for reproducible installs
• Git Ready - Optional Git initialization with initial commit
• Zero Config - Works immediately after creation, no setup required

Quick Start

npx express-ts-wizard

That's it! Answer 3 simple questions and your project is ready.

cd my-express-app
npm run dev
# Server running at http://localhost:3000

Interactive Prompts

The wizard will ask you:

Prompt	Description	Default
Project name	Directory name for your project	my-express-app
TypeScript strictness	How strict should TypeScript be?	moderate
Initialize Git?	Create a Git repo with initial commit	yes

Generated Project Structure

my-express-app/
├── src/
│   └── index.ts        # Express server with health check
├── package.json        # Dependencies and scripts
├── package-lock.json   # Lock file for deterministic installs
├── tsconfig.json       # TypeScript configuration
└── .gitignore          # Standard Node.js ignores

Available Scripts

After creating your project, you can run:

Script	Description
npm run dev	Start development server with hot-reload
npm run build	Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
npm start	Run the compiled production server
npm run type-check	Check types without compiling

TypeScript Strictness Levels

Choose the level that fits your project:

Relaxed

{
  "strict": false
}

Minimal type checking. Good for quick prototypes or migrating JavaScript projects.

Moderate (Recommended)

{
  "strict": true
}

Enables TypeScript's strict flag, which includes:

• strictNullChecks
• strictFunctionTypes
• strictBindCallApply
• strictPropertyInitialization
• noImplicitAny
• noImplicitThis
• alwaysStrict

Strict

{
  "strict": true,
  "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
  "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": true,
  "noPropertyAccessFromIndexSignature": true,
  "noImplicitReturns": true,
  "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
  "noImplicitOverride": true
}

Maximum type safety. Catches more potential bugs at compile time.

What's Included

The generated Express server comes with:

// Health check endpoint
app.get("/health", (req, res) => {
  res.json({ status: "ok", timestamp: new Date().toISOString() });
});

// Graceful shutdown handling
process.on("SIGTERM", () => gracefulShutdown("SIGTERM"));
process.on("SIGINT", () => gracefulShutdown("SIGINT"));

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• Git (optional, for repository initialization)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feat/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. If your change affects users, add a changeset:

   npm run changeset

5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
6. Push to the branch (git push origin feat/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

Branch naming

Use the following prefixes for your branches:

Prefix	Use case	Example
feat/	New features	feat/add-eslint-template
fix/	Bug fixes	fix/tsconfig-path-issue
docs/	Documentation only	docs/update-readme
refactor/	Code refactoring	refactor/simplify-prompts
test/	Adding or updating tests	test/add-action-tests
chore/	Maintenance tasks	chore/update-dependencies

When to add a changeset

Add a changeset if your PR:

• Adds a new feature
• Fixes a bug
• Changes existing behavior
• Updates dependencies that affect the generated project

Skip the changeset for:

• Documentation updates
• Code refactoring without behavior changes
• CI/workflow changes
• Test improvements

Comparison

Feature	express-ts-wizard	express-generator	create-express-api
TypeScript	Yes	No	Varies
Express 5.0	Yes	No (4.x)	No
Interactive CLI	Yes	No	Varies
Strictness levels	3 options	N/A	N/A
Hot reload	Yes (tsx)	No	Varies
Graceful shutdown	Yes	No	No
Zero config	Yes	No	Varies

Related

• Express.js - Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework
• TypeScript - Typed JavaScript at any scale
• tsx - TypeScript execute with hot-reload

License

MIT © Simon Oyaneder

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