simonplend / bootstrap-nodejs-project

Command line tool for starting new Node.js projects

bootstrap-nodejs-project

This is a command line tool for bootstrapping and configuring a new Node.js project. It uses a Bash shell script and the configuration codemods tool Mrm. I've chosen this setup because:

• Scripting the file creation aspects of new project configuration in Node.js, Python etc. feels clunky.
• Create an npm initializer package seems painful too
• Having everything in a package allows dependencies to be pinned to specific versions for stability.

What does this tool do?

It bootstraps a new Node.js project with:

• Code formatting config
• Code syntax and style config
• Continuous integration config
• Open source hygiene - license, Contributor Convenant
• npm configuration
• Git config

Requirements

• Bash
• Git
• Node.js
  • npm - typically bundled with Node.js
  • npx - bundled with npm
• jq

Configure npm init defaults

npm set init-author-name "$YOUR_NAME"
npm set init-author-email "$YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS"
npm set init-author-url "$YOUR_WEBSITE"
npm set init-license "MIT"
npm set init-version "1.0.0"

Set a global git config (~/.gitconfig)

[init]
  defaultBranch = main
[user]
  email = $YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS
  name = $YOUR_NAME
[core]
  editor = vim

Usage

npx github:simonplend/create-nodejs-project

Tools

• Mrm - "Codemods for your project config files"
• Prettier - TODO:
• ESLint - TODO:
• lint-staged - TODO:

TODOs

• Bootstrap: Customise Prettier config
• Bootstrap: Customise ESLint config
• Configure Dependabot or Renovate for this project
• Bootstrap: Configuration for dependency updates (e.g. Dependabot)

Feature ideas

• Pull request template
• Issue template
• Type checking with ts and - npx mrm typescript
• Integrate with the GitHub CLI?

Inspiration

• https://philna.sh/blog/2019/01/10/how-to-start-a-node-js-project/
• https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/03/03/shipping-node.js-at-netlify/