Node.js + TypeScript + Express Template

A boilerplate/template to kickstart a new Node.js project using TypeScript and Express with a sensible setup for development and production.

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🔍 Features

• TypeScript for static typing
• Express for HTTP server & routing
• nodemon + ts-node for fast development (auto-reload)
• Structured folder layout (src / dist)
• Source maps, declaration files
• Configuration for strict type checks, esModuleInterop, etc.
• Built-in scripts for building, running in dev & production

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🛠 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (preferably version 16 or newer)
• npm (comes bundled with Node)

Setup / Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/raj248/nodejs-ts-template.git
   cd nodejs-ts-template

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Dev dependencies

   These are already included, e.g.:

   npm install --save-dev typescript ts-node @types/node @types/express nodemon

4. Configure TypeScript

   There’s a tsconfig.json preconfigured. Key settings:

   • module: CommonJS (or you can switch to ES module if required)
   • target: esnext
   • rootDir: ./src
   • outDir: ./dist
   • Strict type checking enabled

5. Scripts

   The package.json scripts:

   "scripts": {
     "dev": "nodemon",
     "build": "tsc",
     "start": "node dist/index.js",
     "clean": "rimraf ./dist"
   }

   • npm run dev → Runs in development mode with auto-reload
   • npm run build → Compiles .ts to .js into dist
   • npm start → Runs the compiled production code
   • npm clean → Removes dist folder

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⚙ Configuration

• nodemon.json ‒ defines what files/folders to watch, and what extensions to trigger reloads
• tsconfig.json ‒ TypeScript compiler settings
• .gitignore ‒ ignore node_modules, dist, .env etc.
• .env or .env.example (if you include env variables) for configuration based on environment. Learn more
• currenly using dotenvFlow for env variable

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🪜 Workflow

1. Dev mode

   npm run dev

   Works with live reloading.

2. Build for production

   npm run build

3. Start production server

   npm start

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🤝 Contributing

If you want to contribute:

• Fork the repo
• Create a branch like feature/my-feature or fix/bug-description
• Make your changes, ensure TypeScript compiles without errors
• Submit a Pull Request with a description of the changes

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⚖️ License

• This project is licensed under the MIT License.

📄 Acknowledgments

• Thanks to Express for routing and server framework
• Thanks to TypeScript for type safety
• Thanks to tooling like nodemon & ts-node for improving dev workflow

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🗂 Folder Structure (suggested)

nodejs-ts-template/
├── src/
│   ├── controllers/
│   ├── routes/
│   ├── middlewares/
│   ├── utils/
│   ├── index.ts
│   └── (other modules)
├── dist/             # compiled js output
├── .gitignore
├── nodemon.json
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── README.md
└── (optional) .env.example

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