Express application generator
Use the application generator tool, express-generator, to quickly create an application skeleton.
You can run the application generator with the npx command (available in Node.js 8.2.0).
$ npx express-generator
For earlier Node versions, install the application generator as a global npm package and then launch it:
$ npm install -g express-generator
$ express
Display the command options with the -h option:
$ express -h
Usage: express [options] [dir]
Options:
-h, --help output usage information
--version output the version number
-e, --ejs add ejs engine support
--hbs add handlebars engine support
--pug add pug engine support
-H, --hogan add hogan.js engine support
--no-view generate without view engine
-v, --view <engine> add view <engine> support (ejs|hbs|hjs|jade|pug|twig|vash) (defaults to jade)
-c, --css <engine> add stylesheet <engine> support (less|stylus|compass|sass) (defaults to plain css)
--git add .gitignore
-f, --force force on non-empty directory
For example, the following creates an Express app named myapp. The app will be created in a folder named myapp in the current working directory and the view engine will be set to Pug:
$ express --view=pug myapp
create : myapp
create : myapp/package.json
create : myapp/app.js
create : myapp/public
create : myapp/public/javascripts
create : myapp/public/images
create : myapp/routes
create : myapp/routes/index.js
create : myapp/routes/users.js
create : myapp/public/stylesheets
create : myapp/public/stylesheets/style.css
create : myapp/views
create : myapp/views/index.pug
create : myapp/views/layout.pug
create : myapp/views/error.pug
create : myapp/bin
create : myapp/bin/www
Then install dependencies:
$ cd myapp
$ npm install
On MacOS or Linux, run the app with this command:
$ DEBUG=myapp:* npm start
On Windows Command Prompt, use this command:
> set DEBUG=myapp:* & npm start
On Windows PowerShell, use this command:
PS> $env:DEBUG='myapp:*'; npm start
Then, load http://localhost:3000/ in your browser to access the app.
The generated app has the following directory structure:
.
├── app.js
├── bin
│ └── www
├── package.json
├── public
│ ├── images
│ ├── javascripts
│ └── stylesheets
│ └── style.css
├── routes
│ ├── index.js
│ └── users.js
└── views
├── error.pug
├── index.pug
└── layout.pug
7 directories, 9 files
The app structure created by the generator is just one of many ways to structure Express apps. Feel free to use this structure or modify it to best suit your needs.