Development

Development

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 20+
  • npm 10+
  • MongoDB 7+ (local or Docker)
  • Git

Setup

git clone https://github.com/Dynamic-API-Platform/Dynamic-API-Platform.git
cd Dynamic-API-Platform

# Start MongoDB only
docker run -d --name dap-mongo -p 27017:27017 mongo:7

# Backend
cd backend
cp ../.env.example .env
npm install
npm run dev    # tsx watch on port 3001

# Frontend (new terminal)
cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev    # Vite on port 5173

Open http://localhost:5173 — Vite proxies /api to the backend on port 3001.

UI themes

Light and dark themes are available. Toggle in the admin header; preference is stored in localStorage under key theme.

Scripts

Backend

Command Description
npm run dev Hot reload with tsx
npm run build Compile TypeScript
npm start Run compiled dist/index.js
npm run seed Run seed script manually
npm test Run unit tests (Vitest)
npm run test:watch Unit tests in watch mode
npm run test:load Load test against running API (autocannon)

Frontend

Command Description
npm run dev Vite dev server
npm run build Production build to dist/
npm run preview Preview production build

Project conventions

Adding a new management endpoint

  1. Add route in backend/src/routes/
  2. Add service method in backend/src/services/
  3. Add repository method if DB access needed
  4. Register route in backend/src/app.ts
  5. Add API client method in frontend/src/services/api.ts
  6. Create/update page in frontend/src/pages/
  7. Add navigation link in frontend/src/components/Layout.tsx
  8. Document in docs/api-reference.md

Adding a permission

  1. Add to Permission type in backend/src/types/index.ts
  2. Add to Group model enum in backend/src/models/Group.ts
  3. Add to ALL_PERMISSIONS in frontend/src/pages/GroupsPage.tsx
  4. Use in requirePermission() on routes
  5. Document in docs/rbac.md

Adding a settings key

  1. Add to settings.service.ts defaults and key map
  2. Add UI field in SettingsPage.tsx
  3. Use in relevant middleware/service

TypeScript

Both packages use strict TypeScript. Build before committing:

cd backend && npm run build
cd ../frontend && npm run build

Testing

See the full guide: Testing

cd backend
npm test              # unit tests (30 tests, no MongoDB required)
npm run test:load     # load test (requires running backend)

CI runs npm test on every push to main.

Testing API manually

Use the built-in endpoint tester or:

# VS Code REST Client, Postman, or curl
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" http://localhost:3001/api/endpoints

Docker development

docker compose up -d --build
docker compose logs -f backend

Common development issues

See Troubleshooting.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md on GitHub.