Build a REST API with Node.js, TypeScript & MongoDB

Update: The video for this guide has been updated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWUi6BS9T5Y

Please watch the updated version of the video instead, it’s much better.

In this guide, we are going to build a REST API with Node.js, TypeScript, and MongoDB. This guide is for junior to mid-level developers that want to build APIs like a senior developer.

Finished repository: https://github.com/TomDoesTech/REST-API-Tutorial

Postman collection: https://github.com/TomDoesTech/REST-API-Tutorial/blob/main/postman_collection.json

Note: This guide uses commands like mkdir and touch. For those that are unfamiliar, mkdir will make a new directory and touch will create a new file. These commands will work on a Mac or Linux OS, but will not work on a Windows machine as far as I’m aware.

Note 2: For the best learning outcome, watch the video above and follow along. Use this article for support when you miss a snippet of code.

Technologies and concepts covered:

• REST APIs
• JWTs & refresh tokens
• Node.js
• TypeScript
• MongoDB with Mongoose

Why should you learn how to build a REST API in 2021? Isn’t it all about GraphQL now?

• REST APIs are still a staple of the web development industry
• Microservices architectures take advantage of REST
• You need to know how REST APIs work even if you’re a front-end developer

Bootstrap the application

Start in an empty directory and create and initialize a new Node.js application

yarn init 

Initialize the TypeScript project

npx typescript --init

Create a nodemon.json file and add the following code: