Define your routes

Similar to defining models with Ember, we need to define the schema for the models in our database. Mongoose is a Javascript library that allows us to model data for MongoDB. Since the application structure has already been generated, creating a new model is as easy as making a new file.

Let's say we are working on a blog and need to perform CRUD actions on posts. In the models folder, create post.js and define the schema for the post model as shown below. You can use the generated file models/example.js for formatting reference.

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const schema = new mongoose.Schema({
  body: String,
  created: Date,
});

module.exports = schema;
module.exports.modelName = 'Post';

The package express-autoroute-json will create your routes for you. It has already been installed by the project generator, so you don't need to install it again. Traditionally, Express routes are individually defined using:

app.get('/blah', blahHandlerFunction);

For complex applications with many resources, managing route definitions and handlers like this quickly becomes repetitive, convoluted, and cumbersome. express-autoroute-json lets you define all routes for a given resource in a single file, using the declarative action blocks find, create, update, and delete.

Simply including the block find: {} in your route file will generate fully functioning 'Find All' and 'Find By Id' endpoints for accessing your database - no configuration needed.

Using the server/routes/v1/example.js file as a guide, create a new file to define the routes for the post model we created in the previous step:

const autorouteJson = require('express-autoroute-json');
const { models } = require('../../../models');

module.exports.autoroute = autorouteJson({
  model: models.post,
  resource: 'post', // this will be pluralized in the routes

  // default CRUD
  find: {},
  create: {},
  update: {},
  delete: {},
});

The above example is the most basic implementation of route creation with express-autoroute-json. Upon starting your backend application, it will automatically generate dedicated routes for all CRUD actions on posts. Making a GET request to /posts or /posts/1 will now return the appropriate data from your database.

Additionally, you can limit your route definitions to certain request types. express-autoroute-json will only generate the route types that you explicitly define. To completely forbid a particular request type, such as DELETE, simply omit the entire block delete: {} from your route file.