Nestjs Startup

APlaceToStart.md

Nestjs In Under 15 Minutes

If you've got 15 minutes to spare and have docker installed, this Gist will get you started with a working debuggable Nestjs application using Docker with additional settings for vscode. Clearly you'll want to dig deeper, but this is a start...

Nestjs is a popular nodejs for typescript framework for building microservices. It enjoys a large active community, has many extensions and is easily extended. Documentation can be found here

Create the basic file structure from the Github Gist

> mkdir my-proj
> cd my-proj
> mkdir .vscode
> touch .env
> curl -LO https://gist.github.com/leopoldodonnell/6a6eedbdaa314f76f6a1349665dca698/raw/APlaceToStart.md
> curl -LO https://gist.github.com/leopoldodonnell/6a6eedbdaa314f76f6a1349665dca698/raw/docker-compose.yml
> curl -LO https://gist.github.com/leopoldodonnell/6a6eedbdaa314f76f6a1349665dca698/raw/nodemon-debug.json
> curl -LO https://gist.github.com/leopoldodonnell/6a6eedbdaa314f76f6a1349665dca698/raw/nodemon.json
> curl -L -o .vscode/launch.json https://gist.github.com/leopoldodonnell/6a6eedbdaa314f76f6a1349665dca698/raw/vscode-launch.json

Initialize the project

> docker-compose run app /bin/sh
/app # yarn add --global-folder node_modules @nestjs/cli
Lots of output
/app # rm package.json
/app # npx nest generate application ./
CREATE /.prettierrc (51 bytes)
CREATE /README.md (3370 bytes)
CREATE /nest-cli.json (64 bytes)
CREATE /package.json (1687 bytes)
CREATE /tsconfig.build.json (97 bytes)
CREATE /tsconfig.json (336 bytes)
CREATE /tslint.json (426 bytes)
CREATE /src/app.controller.spec.ts (617 bytes)
CREATE /src/app.controller.ts (274 bytes)
CREATE /src/app.module.ts (249 bytes)
CREATE /src/app.service.ts (142 bytes)
CREATE /src/main.ts (208 bytes)
CREATE /test/app.e2e-spec.ts (630 bytes)
CREATE /test/jest-e2e.json (183 bytes)
/app # yarn install
Output from the install
/app # exit

Start the application

> docker-compose up
2:30:28 PM - Starting compilation in watch mode...
app_1  | yarn run v1.19.1
app_1  | $ nest start --debug --watch
app_1  |
app_1  |
app_1  | 2:32:14 PM - Found 0 errors. Watching for file changes.
app_1  | Debugger listening on ws://127.0.0.1:9229/ce9b0bf7-9a8c-4751-94c7-1ff292bf3478
app_1  | For help, see: https://nodejs.org/en/docs/inspector
app_1  | [Nest] 38   - 12/20/2019, 2:32:25 PM   [NestFactory] Starting Nest application...
app_1  | [Nest] 38   - 12/20/2019, 2:32:25 PM   [InstanceLoader] AppModule dependencies initialized +69ms
app_1  | [Nest] 38   - 12/20/2019, 2:32:25 PM   [RoutesResolver] AppController {/}: +74ms
app_1  | [Nest] 38   - 12/20/2019, 2:32:25 PM   [RouterExplorer] Mapped {/, GET} route +15ms
app_1  | [Nest] 38   - 12/20/2019, 2:32:25 PM   [NestApplication] Nest application successfully started +11ms

Note: Startup is initially slow as all of your source will be compiled and the debugger started.

Test It!

> curl http://localhost:3000
Hello World!>
> docker-compose run app npm run test
> docker-compose run app npm run test:e2e
> docker-compose run app npn run test:cov

Debug It!

Update package.json to export the debug port out of Docker by updating the start:debug script.

    "start:debug": "nest start --debug=0.0.0.0 --watch",

Restart the service with ^c and docker-compose up

Once it has started you can swith to debug mode in .vscode or your chrome browser and set a break point. Set one in the default controller action getHello() in src/app.controller.ts then curl the end point curl http://localhost:3000 and your breakpoint will be triggered.

Make a Change

Update src/app.controller.ts to look as follows...

import { Controller, Get, Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
import { AppService } from './app.service';

@Controller()
export class AppController {
  constructor(private readonly appService: AppService) {}

  @Get()
  getHello(): string {
    Logger.log('At getHello()');
    return this.appService.getHello();
  }
}

Once you saved this change, your service should restart and you are ready to debug your updated code!

That's It Start building on your application.

Nest Steps

1. Adding a Config Service
2. Validating request Data
3. Swagger Documentation

docker-compose.yml

# Documentation
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file

version: '3'

services:

  app:
    image: node:dubnium-alpine
    restart: always
    working_dir: /app
    command:
      - yarn
      - start:debug
    env_file:
      - "./.env"
    ports:
      - 3000:3000
      - 9229:9229
    volumes:
      - $PWD:/app
    networks:
      - backend

networks:
  backend:
    driver: bridge

nodemon-debug.json

{
  "watch": ["src"],
  "ext": "ts",
  "ignore": ["src/**/*.spec.ts"],
  "exec": "node --inspect-brk -r ts-node/register -r tsconfig-paths/register src/main.ts"
}

nodemon.json

{
  "watch": ["dist"],
  "ext": "js",
  "exec": "node dist/main"
}

vscode-launch.json

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "attach",
            "name": "Docker: Attach to Node",
            "remoteRoot": "/app",
            "port": 9229,
            "localRoot": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "protocol": "inspector",
            "restart": true,
        }
    ]
}

Mounting the app:

    volumes:
      - $PWD:/app

... This goes against the immutable nature of Docker images and is actually an opportunity for a security risk (i.e.- if you escape a container or bridge the same network it is possible to inject whatever you want into that volume). You would be better off providing a Dockerfile and publishing a build on Dockerhub.
Then if the user wants to add customizations to the app, they can always create a new Dockerfile using the FROM directive.