v2.0.0 is a major release that adds TypeScript support and significantly expands the generated project structure. Here's what changed:
- TypeScript and JavaScript templates
- Redis caching layer with type-safe implementation
- Structured logging via Pino (correlation IDs, JSON output)
- Health check endpoints (Kubernetes liveness/readiness probes)
- Database seeders
- Docker multi-stage builds (~100MB images)
- GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline
- Pre-commit hooks using Husky + lint-staged
- Swagger/OpenAPI documentation
- Graceful shutdown handling
- Project-level docs: SKILLS.md, SEEDERS.md, CONTRIBUTING.md
TryAppStack is a CLI that generates Node.js project boilerplates with a well-defined folder structure, pre-configured dependencies, and sensible defaults.
Instead of spending time wiring up auth, logging, Docker, linting, and CI/CD from scratch, you run one command and get a working project that's ready to build on.
Install globally:
npm install -g tryappstackOr use npx without installing:
npx tryappstack init# Start the interactive setup
tas init
# You'll be prompted to:
# 1. Pick a stack (JavaScript or TypeScript)
# 2. Enter a project name
# 3. Set port, database URL, etc.
# 4. Choose a package manager (npm/yarn)
# Then:
cd my-project
npm run dev
# API runs at http://localhost:5000After tas init, your project includes:
- A complete folder structure following standard conventions
- All dependencies installed
- Environment variables configured (.env)
- An initialized Git repository
- Docker and Docker Compose setup
- A CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions)
- Project documentation
# Seed the database with sample data
npm run db:seed
# Generate a new module (controller + model + router)
tas add-module Product
# Run the app in Docker
npm run docker:run
# View the API docs
# http://localhost:5000/api-docs- JWT-based authentication
- OTP verification (email/phone)
- Password reset flow
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Helmet security headers
- Rate limiting
- XSS protection
- MongoDB query sanitization
- Structured JSON logging with Pino
- Correlation IDs for request tracing
- Request/response logging
- Error tracking
- Health check endpoints:
/health,/health/liveness,/health/readiness
- Redis caching layer
- Response compression
- Connection pooling
- Small Docker images (~100MB)
- Multi-stage Docker builds
- Docker Compose for local orchestration
- GitHub Actions CI/CD
- Pre-commit hooks (Husky + lint-staged)
- Conventional commits via commitlint
- Container health checks
- Swagger/OpenAPI docs
- Architecture overview
- TypeScript guide (TS template only)
- Database seeding guide
- Contributing guidelines
- Coding standards (SKILLS.md)
- Mongoose ODM with TypeScript support
- Seeders for bootstrapping data
- Migration-ready structure
- Indexed schemas
- Hot reload via nodemon
- ESLint + Prettier pre-configured
- Path aliases for TypeScript (
@/) - Auto-formatting on commit
- Type-safe environment variables
- Centralized error handling
| Command | Alias | Description |
|---|---|---|
tas init |
i |
Create a new project (interactive) |
tas --version |
-v |
Show CLI version |
tas --help |
-h |
Show help |
These commands detect whether your project uses TypeScript or JavaScript and generate the right files accordingly.
| Command | Alias | Description |
|---|---|---|
tas add-module <name> |
mod |
Generate controller + model + router |
tas add-controller <name> |
c |
Generate a controller |
tas add-model <name> |
m |
Generate a Mongoose model |
tas add-router <name> |
r |
Generate an Express router |
tas add-service <name> |
s |
Generate a service |
tas add-middleware <name> |
mid |
Generate middleware |
tas add-utils <name> |
u |
Generate a utility module |
tas add-templates <name> |
tpl |
Generate an HTML template |
| Command | Alias | Description |
|---|---|---|
tas setup-env |
env |
Set up environment variables |
tas add-var-env <name> |
addenv |
Add a new env variable |
Note: All add-* commands must be run inside a project created with tas init.
The CLI figures out which template your project uses and generates code accordingly:
# In a TypeScript project
tas add-router Product
# Output: src/routes/ProductRoutes.ts (with types and interfaces)
# In a JavaScript project
tas add-router Product
# Output: Src/Routes/ProductRoutes.js (ES6+ syntax)A complete JavaScript API project with JWT auth, OTP verification, Pino logging, Redis caching, Docker + Compose, GitHub Actions CI/CD, Swagger docs, database seeders, pre-commit hooks, and project documentation.
Everything from the JavaScript template, plus: TypeScript with generics and utility types, DTOs using class-validator, path aliases (@/), type-safe environment validation, a TypeScript best practices guide, and architecture documentation.
- Node API with PostgreSQL + TypeORM
- Node API with MySQL + TypeORM
- GraphQL API
- React SPA
- Next.js Fullstack
- Microservices architecture
# Build and start everything (app + MongoDB + Redis)
npm run docker:build
npm run docker:run
# App: http://localhost:5000
# Mongo Express: http://localhost:8081 (dev only)Both templates are configured for deployment to AWS (EC2, ECS, Fargate), Google Cloud (Cloud Run, GKE), Azure (ACI, AKS), DigitalOcean, Heroku, Railway, and Render.
Kubernetes-specific setup is included: health check endpoints, graceful shutdown, non-root Docker user, and small image sizes.
See the template-specific READMEs for deployment details.
Each generated project includes:
- README.md — Setup and usage
- SKILLS.md — Coding standards and conventions
- SEEDERS.md — Database seeding guide
- CONTRIBUTING.md — Development workflow
- ARCHITECTURE.md — System design overview (TypeScript only)
- TYPESCRIPT_GUIDE.md — TypeScript patterns and practices (TypeScript only)
Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on submitting changes, adding templates, and improving CLI commands.
- TypeScript and JavaScript templates
- Redis caching
- Docker and CI/CD
- Database seeders
- Template-aware code generation
- PostgreSQL + TypeORM template
- MySQL + TypeORM template
- GraphQL API template
- Microservices architecture
- WebSocket support
- Message queue integration (RabbitMQ/Kafka)
- Elasticsearch integration
- Multi-tenancy support
- Next.js fullstack template
- React SPA template
- React Native template
- Electron desktop template
- Serverless templates (AWS Lambda, Vercel)
Project structure and conventions are influenced by patterns used at Vercel, Linear, GitHub, and Google.
MIT — Dushyant Khoda
See LICENSE for details.
Made with ❤️ for developers who value quality and speed