Thinkful Backend Template

A template for developing and deploying Node.js apps.

Getting started

Setting up a project

• Move into your projects directory: cd ~/YOUR_PROJECTS_DIRECTORY
• Clone this repository: git clone https://github.com/Thinkful-Ed/backend-template YOUR_PROJECT_NAME
• Move into the project directory: cd YOUR_PROJECT_NAME
• Install the dependencies: npm install
• Create a new repo on GitHub: https://github.com/new
  • Make sure the "Initialize this repository with a README" option is left unchecked
• Update the remote to point to your GitHub repository: git remote set-url origin https://github.com/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/YOUR_REPOSITORY_NAME

Working on the project

• Move into the project directory: cd ~/YOUR_PROJECTS_DIRECTORY/YOUR_PROJECT_NAME
• Run the development task: npm start
  • Starts a server running at http://localhost:8080
  • Automatically restarts when any of your files change

Databases

By default, the template is configured to connect to a MongoDB database using Mongoose. It can be changed to connect to a PostgreSQL database using Knex by replacing any imports of db-mongoose.js with imports of db-knex.js, and uncommenting the Postgres DATABASE_URL lines in config.js.

Deployment

Requires the Heroku CLI client.

Setting up the project on Heroku

• Move into the project directory: cd ~/YOUR_PROJECTS_DIRECTORY/YOUR_PROJECT_NAME

• Create the Heroku app: heroku create PROJECT_NAME

• If your backend connects to a database, you need to configure the database URL:

  • For a MongoDB database: heroku config:set DATABASE_URL=mongodb://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE_NAME
  • For a PostgreSQL database: heroku config:set DATABASE_URL=postgresql://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE_NAME

• If you are creating a full-stack app, you need to configure the client origin: heroku config:set CLIENT_ORIGIN=https://www.YOUR_DEPLOYED_CLIENT.com

Deploying to Heroku

• Push your code to Heroku: git push heroku master