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.

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