Folder Structure · Kvell.js

Structure

The folder structure of a Kvell application follows an MVC pattern and looks like the following:

example-app/
  apidocs/
    example.js
  controllers/
    index.js
  global/
    globalMiddlewares.js
    dbSyncHandlers.js
  logs/
    appLog.log
  models/
    index.js
  routes/
    index.js
  kvell.config.js
  .env
  .gitignore

A strict file/folder naming convention is followed in the application to maintain consistency and automatic template creation.

kvell.config.js

kvell.config.js is the main configuration file in a kvell application. You can manage configurations like

Routes
Models
Protocol, etc.

Internally, kvell uses these configurations to abstract out certain tasks for you when running the application.

Please read kvell.config.js before going through the rest of the folder structure.

global

global contains two files which serve as global setup for the application.

The global folder looks like the following:

  global/
    globalMiddlewares.js
    dbSyncHandlers.js

Here,

globalMiddlewares.js exposes a function which provides you with the express app object and a server object as parameters. Using these parameters, you can register any middlewares that you need to use globally.

For example, an authentication middleware.

globalMiddlewares.js can be considered as the entry point for the application.

Note: The routes are not required to be registered anywhere in the application if the autoRequireRoutes key is set to true in kvell.config.js. If it is set to false, then you must register all your routes in globalMiddlewares using app.use method.

dbSyncHandlers.js exposes a function onBeforeDbSync which is a method which will run before your database is synced. This is mainly useful if you want to setup some table relationships globally and are using a library like sequelize which provides a sync method.

routes

routes contains all the routes files for your application. Each file here should correspond to a route name from your kvell.config.js.

For example,

  routes/
    home.js
    index.js

implies that there is a route in your application with the name as 'home'.
More on routes here

controllers

controllers contains all the controller files for your application. Each file here should correspond to a route name from your kvell.config.js

For example,

  controllers/
    home.js
    index.js

implies that there is a controller for a "home" route in your application.
More on controllers here

models

models contains all the model based files for the application. Each file here should correspond to a model name from your kvell.config.js.

For example,

  models/
    user/
      index.js
      userModel.js
    index.js

implies that there is a model in your application with the name as 'user'.
More on models here

apidocs

apidocs contains all the documentation files for the application. Each file here should correspond to a route name.

For example,

  apidocs/
    home.js

implies that there is a route in your application with the name as 'home'.
More on apidocs here

logs

logs contains a file appLog.log which is used for logging any data you want to be logged in during the running of the application.

For example,

  logs/
    appLog.log