Skip to content
All Skills

Nodejs Backend

Node.js backend patterns with Express/Fastify, repositories

Software Engineering|v1|Updated 7/14/2026|GitHub source
MCP get_skill({ skillId: "node-js-backend-skill-ae95634b" })

Use this skill with your agent

Create a free account and connect via MCP

Get Started Free
# Node.js Backend Skill


---

## Project Structure

```
project/
├── src/
│   ├── core/                   # Pure business logic
│   │   ├── types.ts            # Domain types
│   │   ├── errors.ts           # Domain errors
│   │   └── services/           # Pure functions
│   │       ├── user.ts
│   │       └── order.ts
│   ├── infra/                  # Side effects
│   │   ├── http/               # HTTP layer
│   │   │   ├── server.ts       # Server setup
│   │   │   ├── routes/         # Route handlers
│   │   │   └── middleware/     # Express middleware
│   │   ├── db/                 # Database
│   │   │   ├── client.ts       # DB connection
│   │   │   ├── repositories/   # Data access
│   │   │   └── migrations/     # Schema migrations
│   │   └── external/           # Third-party APIs
│   ├── config/                 # Configuration
│   │   └── index.ts            # Env vars, validated
│   └── index.ts                # Entry point
├── tests/
│   ├── unit/
│   └── integration/
├── package.json
└── CLAUDE.md
```

---

## API Design

### Route Handler Pattern
```typescript
// routes/users.ts
import { Router } from 'express';
import { z } from 'zod';
import { createUser } from '../../core/services/user';
import { UserRepository } from '../db/repositories/user';

const CreateUserSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  name: z.string().min(1).max(100),
});

export function createUserRoutes(userRepo: UserRepository): Router {
  const router = Router();

  router.post('/', async (req, res, next) => {
    try {
      const input = CreateUserSchema.parse(req.body);
      const user = await createUser(input, userRepo);
      res.status(201).json(user);
    } catch (error) {
      next(error);
    }
  });

  return router;
}
```

### Dependency Injection at Composition Root
```typescript
// index.ts
import { createApp } from './infra/http/server';
import { createDbClient } from './infra/db/client';
import { UserRepository } from './infra/db/repositories/user';
import { createUserRoutes } from './infra/http/routes/users';

async function main(): Promise<void> {
  const db = await createDbClient();
  const userRepo = new UserRepository(db);
  
  const app = createApp({
    userRoutes: createUserRoutes(userRepo),
  });
  
  app.listen(3000);
}
```

---

## Error Handling

### Domain Errors
```typescript
// core/errors.ts
export class DomainError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public readonly code: string,
    public readonly statusCode: number = 400
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'DomainError';
  }
}

export class NotFoundError extends DomainError {
  constructor(resource: string, id: string) {
    super(`${resource} with id ${id} not found`, 'NOT_FOUND', 404);
  }
}

export class ValidationError extends DomainError {
  constructor(message: string) {
    super(message, 'VALIDATION_ERROR', 400);
  }
}
```

### Global Error Handler
```typescript
// middleware/errorHandler.ts
import { ErrorRequestHandler } from 'express';
import { DomainError } from '../../core/errors';
import { ZodError } from 'zod';

export const errorHandler: ErrorRequestHandler = (err, req, res, next) => {
  if (err instanceof DomainError) {
    return res.status(err.statusCode).json({
      error: { code: err.code, message: err.message },
    });
  }

  if (err instanceof ZodError) {
    return res.status(400).json({
      error: { code: 'VALIDATION_ERROR', details: err.errors },
    });
  }

  console.error('Unexpected error:', err);
  return res.status(500).json({
    error: { code: 'INTERNAL_ERROR', message: 'Something went wrong' },
  });
};
```

---

## Database Patterns

### Repository Pattern
```typescript
// db/repositories/user.ts
import { Kysely } from 'kysely';
import { Database, User } from '../types';

export class UserRepository {
  constructor(private db: Kysely<Database>) {}

  async findById(id: string): Promise<User | null> {
    return this.db
      .selectFrom('users')
      .where('id', '=', id)
      .selectAll()
      .executeTakeFirst() ?? null;
  }

  async create(data: Omit<User, 'id' | 'createdAt'>): Promise<User> {
    return this.db
      .insertInto('users')
      .values(data)
      .returningAll()
      .executeTakeFirstOrThrow();
  }
}
```

### Transactions
```typescript
async function transferFunds(
  fromId: string,
  toId: string,
  amount: number,
  db: Kysely<Database>
): Promise<void> {
  await db.transaction().execute(async (trx) => {
    await trx
      .updateTable('accounts')
      .set((eb) => ({ balance: eb('balance', '-', amount) }))
      .where('id', '=', fromId)
      .execute();

    await trx
      .updateTable('accounts')
      .set((eb) => ({ balance: eb('balance', '+', amount) }))
      .where('id', '=', toId)
      .execute();
  });
}
```

---

## Configuration

### Validated Config
```typescript
// config/index.ts
import { z } from 'zod';

const ConfigSchema = z.object({
  NODE_ENV: z.enum(['development', 'production', 'test']),
  PORT: z.coerce.number().default(3000),
  DATABASE_URL: z.string().url(),
  API_KEY: z.string().min(1),
});

export type Config = z.infer<typeof ConfigSchema>;

export function loadConfig(): Config {
  return ConfigSchema.parse(process.env);
}
```

---

## Testing

### Unit Tests (Core)
```typescript
// tests/unit/services/user.test.ts
import { createUser } from '../../../src/core/services/user';

describe('createUser', () => {
  it('creates user with valid data', async () => {
    const mockRepo = {
      create: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ id: '1', email: 'test@example.com' }),
      findByEmail: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(null),
    };

    const result = await createUser({ email: 'test@example.com', name: 'Test' }, mockRepo);

    expect(result.email).toBe('test@example.com');
    expect(mockRepo.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
  });
});
```

### Integration Tests (API)
```typescript
// tests/integration/users.test.ts
import request from 'supertest';
import { createTestApp, createTestDb } from '../helpers';

describe('POST /users', () => {
  let app: Express;
  let db: TestDb;

  beforeAll(async () => {
    db = await createTestDb();
    app = createTestApp(db);
  });

  afterAll(async () => {
    await db.destroy();
  });

  it('creates user and returns 201', async () => {
    const response = await request(app)
      .post('/users')
      .send({ email: 'new@example.com', name: 'New User' });

    expect(response.status).toBe(201);
    expect(response.body.email).toBe('new@example.com');
  });
});
```

---

## Node.js Anti-Patterns

- ❌ Callback hell - use async/await
- ❌ Unhandled promise rejections - always catch or let error handler catch
- ❌ Blocking the event loop - offload heavy computation
- ❌ Secrets in code - use environment variables
- ❌ SQL string concatenation - use parameterized queries
- ❌ No input validation - validate at API boundary
- ❌ Console.log in production - use proper logger
- ❌ No graceful shutdown - handle SIGTERM
- ❌ Monolithic route files - split by resource
#claude-bootstrap#bootstrap#backend#developmentnodejs

Related Skills

More skills in Software Engineering

Accessibility Standards

Comprehensive web accessibility standards based on WCAG 2.2 AA, with 38+ anti-patterns, legal enforcement context (EAA, ADA Title II), WAI-ARIA patterns, and framework-specific fixes for modern web frameworks and libraries.

#github-copilot#accessibilityMIT

Accord

Authoring unified specification packages across Business/Development/Design teams via staged elaboration (L0 Vision → L1 Requirements → L2 Team Detail → L3 Acceptance Criteria). No code. Use when authoring cross-team specs, building L0-L3 packages, or aligning Biz/Dev/Design on a single source of truth.

#broad-capability#developmentMIT

Acquire Codebase Knowledge

Use this skill when the user explicitly asks to map, document, or onboard into an existing codebase. Trigger for prompts like "map this codebase", "document this architecture", "onboard me to this repo", or "create codebase docs". Do not trigger for routine feature implementation, bug fixes, or narrow code edits unless the user asks for repository-level discovery.

#github-copilot#documentationMIT

Acreadiness Assess

Run the AgentRC readiness assessment on the current repository and produce a static HTML dashboard at reports/index.html. Wraps `npx github:microsoft/agentrc readiness` and hands off rendering to the @ai-readiness-reporter custom agent. Supports policies (--policy) for org-specific scoring. Use when asked to assess, audit, or score the AI readiness of a repo.

#github-copilot#planningMIT

Acreadiness Generate Instructions

Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command. Produces .github/copilot-instructions.md (default, recommended for Copilot in VS Code) plus optional per-area .instructions.md files with applyTo globs for monorepos. Use after running /acreadiness-assess to close gaps in the AI Tooling pillar.

#github-copilot#skillMIT

Acreadiness Policy

Help the user pick, write, or apply an AgentRC policy. Policies customise readiness scoring by disabling irrelevant checks, overriding impact/level, setting pass-rate thresholds, or chaining org baselines with team overrides. Use when the user asks about strict mode, AI-only scoring, custom weights, CI gating, or wants org-wide standardisation.

#github-copilot#planningMIT