Simple API helper module for Express apps.

Respond with 200 OK and JSON-encoded data.

• req express Request
• res express Response
• data Object

Respond with 400 Bad Request and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String,errors:Array}.

• req express Request
• res express Response
• data Array (of String) or String

Respond with 401 Unauthorized and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String}.

• req express Request
• res express Response

Respond with 403 Forbidden and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String}.

• req express Request
• res express Response

Respond with 404 Not Found and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String}.

• req express Request
• res express Response

Respond with 405 Method Not Allowed and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String}.

• req express Request
• res express Response

Respond with 422 Unprocessable Entity and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String,errors:Array}.

• req express Request
• res express Response
• errors Array (of String) or String

Respond with 500 Internal Server Error and JSON-encoded error object, {message:String,error:Object}.

• req express Request
• res express Response
• error Object

Require that listed parameters are present. Checks for presence of each parameter in req.body object if using express.bodyParser middleware; otherwise checks for presence of each parameter in req.params or req.query. If any parameters are missing, invokes badRequest with an array of error messages with the form "Missing required parameter: %s".

• req express Request
• res express Response
• params Array (of String) or String
• callback(err) Function

Require that listed headers are present. Checks for presence of each header in req.headers. If any parameters are missing, invokes badRequest with an array of error messages with the form "Missing required header parameter: %s".

• req express Request
• res express Response
• headers Array (of String) of String
• callback(err) Function

Sample usage:

var http = require('http'),
    express = require('express'),
    bodyParser = require('body-parser'),
    api = require('express-api-helper'),
    app = express(),
    Post = require('./models/post');

app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
    extended: true
}));

app.all('/api/*', function (req, res, next) {
  if (!req.user) return api.unauthorized(req, res);
  next();
});

app.post('/api/posts', function (req, res) {
  api.requireParams(req, res, ['title', 'content', 'authorId'], function (err) {
    if (err) return api.serverError(req, res, err);
    var payload = {
      title: req.body.title,
      content: req.body.content,
      authorId: req.body.authorId
    };
    Post.create(payload, function (err, post) {
      if (err) return api.serverError(req, res, err);
      api.ok(req, res, post.toJSON());
    });
  });
});

app.get('/api/posts', function (req, res) {
  Post.find({}, function (err, posts) {
    if (err) return api.serverError(req, res, err);
    api.ok(req, res, posts.toJSON());
  });
});

app.get('/api/posts/:id', function (req, res) {
  Post.findById(req.params.id, function (err, post) {
    if (err) return api.serverError(req, res, err);
    if (!post) return api.notFound(req, res);
    api.ok(req, res, post.toJSON());
  })
});

http.createServer(app).listen(3000, function () {
  console.log("Express API listening on 3000");
});

To run the tests, clone the repository and install the dev dependencies:

git clone git://github.com/paambaati/express-api-helper.git
cd express-api-helper && npm install
make test

MIT