PEST.js

Progressive Express Starter Template

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Scaffold production-ready Express 5 + TypeScript projects in seconds. Pick a database ORM, add Docker, and start building.

npx pest-js-app

Why PEST.js?

Starting a new Express project means wiring up TypeScript, linting, testing, error handling, env config, and more — every single time. PEST.js does all of that in one command.

• Express 5 — native async error handling, no wrappers needed
• TypeScript — strict mode, path resolution, source maps
• Database — Prisma, Drizzle, or TypeORM with PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite
• Docker — multi-stage Dockerfile + compose with DB health checks
• Testing — Jest + Supertest with real HTTP assertions
• Linting — ESLint flat config + Prettier, pre-commit hooks via Husky
• Deploy — Vercel config included out of the box

Quick Start

npx pest-js-app

Follow the interactive prompts — or skip them entirely:

npx pest-js-app --yes --name my-api --database prisma --db-provider postgresql --docker

Then:

cd my-api
npm run dev

Your API is running at http://localhost:3000.

CLI Options

Usage: npx pest-js-app [options]

Options:
  --name <name>         Project name (kebab-case)
  --database <orm>      prisma | drizzle | typeorm | none
  --db-provider <db>    postgresql | mysql | sqlite
  --docker              Enable Docker support
  --no-docker           Disable Docker support
  -y, --yes             Skip all prompts, use defaults
  -v, --version         Show version
  -h, --help            Show help

What Gets Generated

my-api/
├── src/
│   ├── app.ts                  Express app (routes + middleware)
│   ├── server.ts               Server entry point
│   ├── config/env.ts           Typed environment variables
│   ├── routes/health.ts        Health check endpoint
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   └── error-handler.ts    Global error handler
│   ├── db/                     Database setup (if selected)
│   └── lib/prisma.ts           Prisma client (if selected)
├── tests/app.test.ts           Supertest tests
├── Dockerfile                  Multi-stage build (if Docker)
├── docker-compose.yml          App + DB services (if Docker)
├── tsconfig.json
├── eslint.config.mjs
├── jest.config.js
├── .prettierrc
└── vercel.json

Scripts in Generated Project

Script	Description
npm run dev	Dev server with hot reload
npm run build	Compile TypeScript
npm start	Run production build
npm test	Run tests
npm run lint	Lint with ESLint
npm run format	Format with Prettier
npm run db:migrate	Run migrations (if DB)
npm run db:studio	Database GUI (if DB)

Documentation

Full docs at pestjs.vercel.app/docs.

Contributing

Contributions welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT

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