meanify

Node.js Express middleware that uses your Mongoose schema to generate SCRUD API routes compatible with AngularJS and ngResource.

Implementation

Before you begin, be sure MongoDB is installed and mongod is running.

Install meanify as a dependency and add it to your package.json file.

npm install meanify --save

First, define your Mongoose models and any necessary validations and indexes.

// models.js
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var Schema = mongoose.Schema;

var userSchema = new Schema({
	name: { type: String, required: true },
	email: { type: String, required: true },
	password: { type: String, required: true }
});
mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

var postSchema = new Schema({
	title: { type: String, required: true },
	contents: { type: String, required: true },
	author: { type: Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: 'User', index: true }
});
mongoose.model('Post', postSchema);

Initialize meanify's router middleware after your Mongoose models.

// server.js
var express = require('express');
var app = express();

require('./models');
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost/meanify');

var meanify = require('meanify')({
	path: '/api',
	pluralize: true
});
app.use(meanify());

app.listen(3001);

Start up your express app using the DEBUG=meanify param to verify your routes.

➜ DEBUG=meanify node server.js

The meanify log will show the newly created endpoints.

meanify GET    /api/users +0ms
meanify POST   /api/users +0ms
meanify GET    /api/users/:id +0ms
meanify POST   /api/users/:id +0ms
meanify DELETE /api/users/:id +0ms
meanify GET    /api/posts +0ms
meanify POST   /api/posts +0ms
meanify GET    /api/posts/:id +0ms
meanify POST   /api/posts/:id +0ms
meanify DELETE /api/posts/:id +0ms

The middleware functions powering these routes may also be accessed directly for more control over route creation.

For example:

// app.use(meanify()); // Disable automatic routing.

app.get('/api/posts', meanify.posts.search);
app.post('/api/posts', meanify.posts.create);
app.get('/api/posts/:id', meanify.posts.read);
app.put('/api/posts/:id', meanify.posts.update); // Support PUT instead of POST.
// app.delete('/api/posts/:id', meanify.posts.delete); // Disable this route.

Options

Meanify expects options to be passed in on require of the module as seen below. This builds an Express middleware router object, which is accessed by invoking the returned function.

var meanify = require('meanify')({
	path: '/api',
	exclude: ['Counter'],
	lowercase: false,
	pluralize: true,
	caseSensitive: false,
	strict: false,
	puts: true,
	relate: true
});
app.use(meanify());

path

The root path to be used as a base for the generated routes. Default: '/'

exclude

Array of models to exclude from middleware generation. Default: undefined

lowercase

Prevents meanify from lowercasing generated route name. Default: true

pluralize

Pluralizes the model name when used in the route, i.e. "user" becomes "users". Default: false

caseSensitive

Enable case sensitivity, treating "/Foo" and "/foo" as different routes. Default: true

strict

Enable strict routing, treating "/foo" and "/foo/" differently by the router. Default true

puts

By default, ngResource does not support PUT for updates without making it more RESTful. This option adds PUT routes in addition to the POST routes for resource creation and update.

relate

Experimental feature that automatically populates references on create and removes them on delete. Default: false

hooks

Object containing registration hooks for search, create, read, update, and delete operations. See below for full hooks documentation.

Usage

For each model, five endpoints are created that handle resource search, create, read, update and delete (SCRUD) functions.

Search

GET /{path}/{model}?{fields}{options}

The search route returns an array of resources that match the fields and values provided in the query parameters.

For example:

GET /api/posts?author=544bbbceecd047be03d0e0f7&__limit=1

If no query parameters are present, it returns the entire data set. No results will be an empty array ([]).

Options are passed in as query parameters in the format of &__{option}={value} in the query string, and unlock the power of MongoDB's find() API.

Option | Description -------- | ------------- limit | Limits the result set count to the supplied value. skip | Number of records to skip (offset). distinct | Finds the distinct values for a specified field across the current collection. sort | Sorts the record according to provided shorthand sort syntax (e.g. &__sort=-name). populate | Populates object references with the full resource (e.g. &__populate=users). count | When present, returns the resulting count in an array (e.g. [38]). near | Performs a geospatial query on given coordinates and an optional range (in meters), sorted by distance by default. Required format: {longitude},{latitude},{range}

Meanify also supports range queries. To perform a range query, pass in a stringified JSON object into the field on the request.

GET /api/posts?createdAt={"$gt":"2013-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"}

Using ngResource in AngularJS, performing a range query is easy:

// Find posts created on or after 1/1/2013.
Posts.query({
	createdAt: JSON.stringify({
		$gte: new Date('2013-01-01')
	})
});

Create

POST /{path}/{model}

Posting (or putting, if enabled) to the create route validates the incoming data and creates a new resource in the collection. Upon validation failure, a 400 error with details will be returned to the client. On success, a status code of 201 will be issued and the new resource will be returned.

Read

GET /{path}/{model}/{id}

The read path returns a single resource object in the collection that matches a given id. If the resource does not exist, a 404 is returned.

Update

POST /{path}/{model}/{id}

Posting (or putting, if enabled) to the update route will validate the incoming data and update the existing resource in the collection and respond with 204 if successful. Upon validation failure, a 400 error with details will be returned to the client. A 404 will be returned if the resource did not exist.

Delete

DELETE /{path}/{model}/{id}

Issuing a delete request to this route will result in the deletion of the resource and a 204 response if successful. If there was no resource, a 404 will be returned.

Sub-documents

Mongoose sub-documents let you define schemas inside schemas, allowing for nested data structures that can be validated and hooked into via middleware.

var commentSchema = new Schema({
	message: { type: String, required: true }
});

var postSchema = new Schema({
	title: { type: String, required: true },
	author: { type: Schema.Types.ObjectId, ref: 'User', index: true },
	comments: [ commentSchema ],
	createdAt: Date
});

mongoose.model('Post', postSchema);

Meanify will detect sub-documents and expose SCRUD routes beneath the top-level models.

meanify GET    /api/posts/:id/comments +1ms
meanify POST   /api/posts/:id/comments +0ms
meanify GET    /api/posts/:id/comments/:commentsId +0ms
meanify POST   /api/posts/:id/comments/:commentsId +0ms
meanify DELETE /api/posts/:id/comments/:commentsId +0ms

These routes work similar to the model SCRUD routes defined above, with the exception of the Search route. Currently, options are not supported so a GET to the sub-document collection will simply return the entire array set.

The sub-document middleware is made available underneath the parent middleware.

app.post('/api/posts/:id/comments/:commentsId', meanify.posts.comments.update);

Validation

Meanify will handle validation described by your models, as well as any error handling defined in your pre middleware hooks.

postSchema.path('type').validate(function (value) {
	return /article|review/i.test(value);
}, 'InvalidType');

The above custom validator example will return a validation error if a value other than "article" or "review" exists in the type field upon creation or update.

Example response:

{
	message: 'Validation failed',
	name: 'ValidationError',
	errors: {
		type: {
				message: 'InvalidType',
				name: 'ValidatorError',
				path: 'type',
				type: 'user defined',
				value: 'poop'
			}
		}
	}
}

Advanced validation for the create and update routes may be achieved using the pre hook, for example:

commentSchema.pre('save', function (next) {
	if (this.message.length <= 5) {
		var error = new Error();
		error.name = 'ValidateLength'
		error.message = 'Comments must be longer than 5 characters.';
		return next(error);
	}
	next();
});

Meanify will return a 400 with the error object passed by your middleware.

{
	name: 'ValidateLength',
	message: 'Comments must be longer than 5 characters.'
}

Hooks

Using hooks, you can access Express' request, response objects and next function for maximum control over the response to the client. This is especially useful for authorization.

Hooks can be registered via options and passed into meanify on initialization. For example:

// Options Registration
var meanify = require('../meanify')({
	path: '/api',
	hooks: {
		// Include the Schema name registered in Mongoose.
		Post: {
			// Key should be `search`, `create`,
			// `read`, `update`, or `delete`
			read: function (req, res, done, next) {
				// Do some stuff.
				done();
			},
			delete: function (req, res, done, next) {
				// Do different stuff.
				done();
			}
		}
	}
});
app.use(meanify());

Alternatively, you can add hooks via the middleware object created after initialization. For example:

// Dynamic Registration
meanify.posts.hook('create', function (req, res, done, next) {
	var doc = this;
	if (doc.user === req.user._id) {
		// Proceed as normal.
		done();
	} else if (badDog) {
		res.status(401).send({
			name: 'Unauthorized',
			message: 'You can`t do that, Dave.'
		});
	} else if (goodDog) {
		// Tell `meanify` to send a `400` response with this JSON body.
		done({
			name: 'HookError',
			message: 'This is a completely custom error!'
		});
	} else {
		// Bypass `meanify` and generate a `500` for Express to handle.
		// 500 error handled by Express
		next(err);
	}
});

Meanify exposes hooks for the search, create, read, update and delete operations on primary resources. Sub-documents are not currently supported.

The search hook executes after the results have been retrieved from the database, just before sending to the client. This is useful for manipulating search results or tailoring them to users. this refers to the search results.

The create hook takes place immediately after receiving the request, right before Mongoose attempts validation. this refers to the newly initialized Mongoose object (i.e. Model.create(req.body)).

The read hook fires after Mongoose successfully finds the resource, just before returning the data to the client. this refers to the retrieved Mongoose resource.

The update hook fires after Mongoose successfully finds the resource to update, right before it attempts validation to save it. this refers to the retrieved Mongoose resource with updated properties.

The delete hook executes after meanify successfully locates the resource to delete, right before attempting to remove the document from the collection. this refers to the retrieved Mongoose resource to delete.

Hook callbacks are invoked with the req, res, done and next arguments:

• req - The Express request object.
• res - The Express response object.
• done - The Meanify callback. Sending with an object generates a 400 HTTP error and returns the object as JSON to the client.
• next - The Express next function. Calling next() skips to subsequent middleware or 404 handler. Calling next(err) invokes Express' 500 error handler.

Instance Methods

Instance methods can also be defined on models in Mongoose and accessed via the meanify API routes.

postSchema.method('mymethod', function (req, res, done) {
	var error = null;
	var query = req.query;
	var body = req.body;
	if (query.foo) {
		// Do some stuff with query params.
		body.foo = query.foo;
		// Return new object in the response.
		done(error, body);
	} else {
		error = {
			name: 'NoFoo',
			message: 'Foo not found.'
		};
		// Send error.
		done(error);
	}
});

Instance methods defined on schemas should expect three arguments: the request object, response object, and a done callback.

If the done callback sees null as the first argument and the modified resource object second, a successful 200 response will be returned along with the resource object as the body. If the callback sees the error defined as the first argument, a failure (i.e. a 400) response is returned.

The response object gives you more control over the response and status code sent. For example, you could send a 401 or 403 response status (i.e. res.status(401).send()) instead of the standard 400 using the callback.

Note that inside the schema method context, this refers to the resource document found in the database.

Note: When naming your instance methods, choose something other than the built-in instance methods in Mongoose.

Methods are invoked by adding it after the id segment of the POST request.

POST /{path}/{model}/{id}/{method}?foo=bar

The query parameters and body of the POST are passed to the instance method, returning a 200 status and resource body if successful, or a 400 status and error object if not.

Custom instance methods are made available under the meanify.update property for greater control in your routes. Note that the :id parameter is required.

app.post('/api/posts/:id/mymethod', meanify.posts.update.mymethod);

Note: Instance methods are not supported on sub-documents.

Roadmap

• Nested sub-documents.
• Sub-document instance methods.
• Static methods.
• Generation of AngularJS ngResource service via /api/?ngResource endpoint.
• Examples and documentation on integration in AngularJS.

Changelog

0.1.8 | 2/1/2016

• Hooks for search, create, read, update, and delete operations.

0.1.7 | 11/3/2015

• Support for Mongo's distinct aggregation command via the __distinct option.

0.1.6 | 12/31/2014

• Instance method constructor supports req, res, next interface.

0.1.5 | 12/8/2014

• Generated routes and middleware for schema sub-documents.
• Validation and error handling in middleware pre hooks.

0.1.4 | 12/7/2014

• Generated routes and middleware for model instance methods.

0.1.3 | 12/5/2014

• exclude option excludes models from router but retains middleware functions.

0.1.2 | 11/23/2014

• JSON object support in query parameters, enabling range queries.
• body-parser middleware is bundled in meanify router.
• Started unit test framework and added .jshintrc.

0.1.1 | 10/28/2014

• Basic example of a service using meanify.

0.1.0 | 10/28/2014

• Alpha release ready for publish to npm and testing.