Create Arkos CLI

The official scaffolding tool for Arkos.js projects. It guides you through an interactive setup and generates a production-ready RESTful API with zero configuration — automatic CRUD, authentication, validation, and more, all built on Express.js and Prisma.

Quick Start

npm create arkos@latest my-arkos-project

yarn create arkos@latest my-arkos-project

pnpm create arkos@latest my-arkos-project

Interactive Setup

The CLI asks a series of questions to configure your project:

? Would you like to use TypeScript? Yes
? What db provider will be used for Prisma? postgresql
? Would you like to set up Validation? Yes
? Choose validation library: zod
? Would you like to set up Authentication? Yes
? Choose authentication type: dynamic
? Would you like to use authentication with Multiple Roles? Yes
? Choose default username field for login: email
? Would you like to use Strict Routing? No

Configuration Options

TypeScript

The CLI supports both TypeScript and JavaScript projects. If you choose JavaScript, the validation library is automatically set to Zod — class-validator requires TypeScript.

Database Providers

Validation

• Zod — TypeScript-first schema validation
• class-validator — Decorator-based validation (TypeScript only)

Authentication

• Static — File-based roles and permissions, no extra database tables, fast permission checks
• Dynamic — Database-driven permissions via auth-role and auth-permission tables, scalable for complex applications
• Define Later — Skip authentication setup and configure it when you're ready

When using dynamic authentication, you will also be asked whether to support multiple roles per user. This option is not available for SQLite or static authentication.

Username Field

Choose how users identify themselves at login:

• Email — recommended for most applications
• Username — great for social platforms
• Define Later — configure a custom field later

Strict Routing

Enables Express strict routing — /posts and /posts/ are treated as different routes. Disabled by default.

Generated Project Structure

my-arkos-project/
├── prisma/
│   └── schema.prisma
├── src/
│   ├── utils/
│   │   └── prisma/
│   │       └── index.ts
│   ├── app.ts
│   └── arkos.config.ts
├── .env
├── .gitignore
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── pnpm-lock.yaml

Getting Started

1. Navigate to your project

cd my-arkos-project

2. Configure your database

Edit .env with your connection string:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/mydb"

DATABASE_URL="mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb"

DATABASE_URL="mysql://username:password@localhost:3306/mydb"

DATABASE_URL="file:./dev.db"

3. Set up Prisma

npx prisma generate
npx prisma db push

4. Start development

npm run dev

Your Arkos.js API is now running and ready to handle requests.

Environment Variables

# Database
DATABASE_URL=your-database-connection-string

# JWT (if authentication enabled)
JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=90d

# Server
PORT=8000

Beyond Scaffolding

Once your project is created, use the built-in Arkos CLI to generate controllers, services, routers, schemas, and more on demand. See the CLI guide.