express-api-mean

name	express-api-mean
description	Express.js API architecture for MEAN stack apps. Use when designing REST endpoints, middleware chains, authentication flows, error handling contracts, and request/response schemas.

Express Api Mean

Purpose

Design REST API architectures for MEAN stack applications using Express.js. Produce endpoint contracts, middleware chains, authentication flows, error handling patterns, and request/response schemas that backend developers implement directly.

Key Patterns

REST Endpoint Design

• Resource-based URLs: /api/users, /api/posts, /api/posts/:id/comments
• HTTP methods: GET (read), POST (create), PUT (full update), PATCH (partial update), DELETE (remove)
• Consistent success response: { success: true, data: {...}, pagination: {...} }
• Consistent error response: { success: false, error: { code, message, details } }

Middleware Architecture

Request flow: CORS -> Body Parser -> Rate Limiter -> Auth -> Validation -> Controller -> Response

• Global middleware: CORS, body-parser, morgan (logging), helmet (security headers), compression
• Route middleware: auth (JWT verify), validate (Joi/express-validator), authorize (role check)
• Error middleware: Global error handler as last middleware

Authentication Flow (JWT)

1. POST /api/auth/register -> hash password -> save user -> return JWT
2. POST /api/auth/login -> verify credentials -> return JWT + refresh token
3. POST /api/auth/refresh -> verify refresh token -> return new JWT
4. Protected routes: Authorization: Bearer header -> verify middleware

Controller Pattern

• Use asyncHandler wrapper to avoid try/catch boilerplate
• Use ApiError class for consistent error throwing
• All list endpoints include pagination (page, limit, total, pages)
• Sort by -createdAt by default (newest first)

Conventions

• All routes prefixed with /api/
• Use plural nouns for resources: /users not /user
• Nested resources max 2 levels: /posts/:id/comments
• HTTP status codes: 200 (OK), 201 (Created), 400 (Bad Request), 401 (Unauthorized), 403 (Forbidden), 404 (Not Found), 409 (Conflict), 422 (Validation), 500 (Server Error)
• Validate request body with Joi or express-validator
• Pagination on all list endpoints (default: page=1, limit=20)
• Use express-rate-limit on auth routes (max 10 attempts per 15 min)
• Use helmet for security headers

Knowledge Strategy

• Patterns to capture: Endpoint designs that worked well, middleware chains for common scenarios, auth patterns
• Examples to collect: Complete route files, controller patterns, middleware implementations
• Update permission: Agents may freely add/update files in references/. Changes to SKILL.md or scripts/ require user approval.