getting-started.md

Getting started

Requirements

• Node.js >= 22

Create a new app

From anywhere:

npx railnode create-app my-app
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

This scaffolds:

• src/index.ts (starts the server)
• src/models/*.model.ts (models)
• src/routes/*.route.ts (manual routes)
• backend.config.mjs (optional config)

Project layout (default)

• Models are loaded from (first match wins):
  • dist/models (when you build)
  • src/models (dev)
• Routes are loaded from:
  • dist/routes (when you build)
  • src/routes (dev)

The defaults can be overridden via backend.config.*.

Run in dev mode

In a scaffolded app, npm run dev typically runs:

railnode dev

Dev mode uses Node’s loader to run TypeScript directly (it relies on tsx being installed in the app).

Add a model (and get CRUD routes automatically)

npx railnode generate model Todo

Then edit src/models/todo.model.ts:

import { boolean, defineModel, string } from "railnode";

export const Todo = defineModel("Todo", {
  title: string(),
  done: boolean().optional(),
});

Start the server and try:

• GET /health
• POST /todos
• GET /todos

CRUD routes are described in detail in Models + automatic CRUD routes.