REST APIs Backend (Node.js + Express + TypeScript)

Backend service for a product admin dashboard. It exposes a REST API to manage products (CRUD + availability toggle), documented with OpenAPI/Swagger and covered by Jest/Supertest tests.

Related frontend repo (TypeScript + React):

• Repo: https://github.com/aaronmasm/rest_apis_typescript_frontend
• Live app: https://restapistypescriptfrontend.vercel.app/

Overview

• Products resource with the following fields:
  • id (auto increment), name (string), price (number), availability (boolean)
• Endpoints under /api/products with validation and proper status codes
• Swagger UI available at /docs
• PostgreSQL database via Sequelize (sequelize-typescript)
• CORS allow-list controlled by FRONTEND_URL

PERN Stack Overview

• Architecture: React (frontend) -> Express/Node.js (API) -> PostgreSQL (database)
• Data access layer uses Sequelize (sequelize-typescript) to map models and run queries
• CORS: only the configured FRONTEND_URL is allowed to call this API

Tech Stack (PERN)

• PERN: PostgreSQL, Express, React, Node.js
  • This repository covers the backend: PostgreSQL (via Sequelize) + Express + Node.js
  • The React frontend lives here: https://github.com/aaronmasm/rest_apis_typescript_frontend
• Language: TypeScript
• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express
• ORM: Sequelize (sequelize-typescript) + PostgreSQL
• Validation: express-validator
• Docs: swagger-jsdoc + swagger-ui-express (OpenAPI 3)
• Logging: morgan
• Env management: dotenv
• Dev: ts-node + nodemon
• Tests: Jest + Supertest

Requirements

• Node.js and npm installed
• A PostgreSQL database accessible via a single DATABASE_URL connection string

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root with at least the following variables:

• DATABASE_URL: PostgreSQL connection string
  • Example: postgresql://user:password@host:port/dbname?ssl=true
• FRONTEND_URL: URL allowed by CORS (e.g., http://localhost:5173 for local dev)
• PORT: Optional. Defaults to 5000

Example .env:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<db>?ssl=true
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
# PORT=5000

Installation

1. Clone this repository (this directory is the server backend)
2. Install dependencies
   • npm install
3. Create and configure your .env file (see above)

Running

• Development (watch mode with ts-node and nodemon):

  • npm run dev
  • The server listens on PORT (defaults to 5000)
  • Entry point: src/index.ts (creates and starts the Express server from src/server.ts)

• Build TypeScript to JavaScript:

  • npm run build
  • Output goes to dist/

• Start compiled build (no start script provided):

  • After building, run: node dist/index.js

API Docs

• Swagger UI is served at: /docs
• OpenAPI sources are defined in src/config/swagger.ts and annotations in src/router.ts

Available Scripts

• npm run dev
  • Start the dev server with nodemon and ts-node (src/index.ts)
• npm run build
  • Compile TypeScript to JavaScript into dist/
• npm test
  • Run Jest test suite (ts-jest)
• npm run test:coverage
  • Clear and re-sync the database, then run tests with coverage
• npm run pretest
  • Internal script used by test:coverage to clear the DB using ts-node ./src/data --clear

Notes:

• The pretest script ts-node ./src/data --clear will force a DB sync that drops and recreates tables. Do not point DATABASE_URL to a production database when running tests.

Testing

• Ensure DATABASE_URL targets a non-production database suitable for destructive operations
• Run:
  • npm test
  • or npm run test:coverage for coverage report
• Tests are written with Jest and Supertest and cover the product endpoints under src/handlers/tests/

Project Structure

Abridged structure highlighting key files and directories:

server/
├─ src/
│  ├─ index.ts              # App entry (reads PORT, starts server)
│  ├─ server.ts             # Express app setup, CORS, routes, Swagger, DB connect
│  ├─ router.ts             # Routes + Swagger annotations for /api/products
│  ├─ handlers/
│  │  ├─ product.ts         # Controllers for product CRUD
│  │  └─ __tests__/product.test.ts  # Jest/Supertest tests
│  ├─ config/
│  │  ├─ db.ts              # Sequelize config (uses DATABASE_URL)
│  │  └─ swagger.ts         # OpenAPI/Swagger spec configuration
│  ├─ models/
│  │  └─ Product.model.ts   # Sequelize model (name, price, availability)
│  ├─ middleware/
│  │  └─ index.ts           # Input validation handling
│  └─ data/
│     └─ index.ts           # DB reset utility used by tests
├─ jest.config.js           # Jest + ts-jest configuration
├─ tsconfig.json            # TypeScript configuration (outDir=dist)
├─ package.json             # Scripts and dependencies
├─ LICENSE                  # Project license
└─ README.md                # This file

CORS

• Only requests from FRONTEND_URL are allowed. If origin differs, CORS will reject with an error.

Database

• Sequelize connects using DATABASE_URL and automatically loads models from src/models
• On startup, the app authenticates and syncs models

Related Frontend

• Repo: https://github.com/aaronmasm/rest_apis_typescript_frontend
• Live app: https://restapistypescriptfrontend.vercel.app/

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.