JSON Server

Give it a JSON or JS seed file and it will serve it through REST routes.

Created with ❤️ for front-end developers who need a flexible back-end for quick prototyping and mocking.

Examples

Command line interface

$ cat db.json
{ 
  "posts": [
    { "id": 1, "body": "foo" }
  ]
}
$ json-server --file db.json
$ curl -i http://localhost:3000/posts/1

You can type 's' at any moment to save the current live JSON object to timestamped file.

Node module

var server = require('json-server');

var db = { 
  posts: [
    { id: 1, body: 'foo' }
  ]
}

server.run(db);

You can find a running demo here: http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com.

Why?

• Lets you use plain JSON or simple JS file
• Supports GET but also POST, PUT, DELETE and even PATCH requests
• Can be used from anywhere through cross domain requests (JSONP or CORS)
• Can load remote JSON files
• Can be deployed on Nodejitsu, Heroku, ...

Installation

$ npm install -g json-server

Usage

Command line interface

json-server --help

  Usage: json-server [options]

  Options:

    -h, --help        output usage information
    -V, --version     output the version number
    -f --file <file>  load db from a js or json file
    -u --url <url>    load db from a URL
    -p --port [port]  server port
    --read-only       read only mode

JSON Server can load JSON from multiple sources:

$ json-server --file db.json
$ json-server --file seed.js
$ json-server --url http://example.com/db.json

And be run in read-only mode (useful if deployed on a public server):

$ json-server --file db.json --read-only

Input

Here's 2 examples showing how to format JSON or JS seed file:

• db.json

{
  "posts": [
    { "id": 1, "body": "foo" },
    { "id": 2, "body": "bar" }
  ],
  "comments": [
    { "id": 1, "body": "baz", "postId": 1 }
    { "id": 2, "body": "qux", "postId": 2 }
  ]
}

• seed.js

exports.run = function() {
  var data = {};

  data.posts = [];
  data.posts.push({ id: 1, body: 'foo' });
  //...

  return data;
}

JSON Server expects JS files to export a run method that returns an object.

Seed files are useful if you need to programmaticaly create a lot of data.

Node module

run(db, [options])

var server = require('json-server'),
    db = require('./seed').run();

var options = { port: 4000, readOnly: true };

server.run(db, options);

By default, port is set to 3000 and readOnly to false.

Routes

GET   /:resource
GET   /:resource?attr=&attr=&
GET   /:parent/:parentId/:resource
GET   /:resource/:id
POST  /:resource
PUT   /:resource/:id
PATCH /:resource/:id
DEL   /:resource/:id

For routes usage information, have a look at JSONPlaceholder code examples.

GET /db

Returns database state.

GET /

Returns default index file or content of ./public/index.html (useful if you need to set a custom home page).

Support

If you like the project, please tell your friends about it, star it or give feedback :) It's very much appreciated!

For project updates or to get in touch, @typicode. You can also send me a mail.

Test

$ npm install
$ npm test

Articles

Fast prototyping using Restangular and Json-server