Express — minimal web framework for Node.js

Overview

Express wraps Node's HTTP server with a routing table and a chain of middleware functions (req, res, next). The current major version is 5 (5.3.0 at the time of writing, latest on npm, requires Node.js 18+). Version 5 differs from the 4.x code found in most tutorials in ways that break copy-pasted snippets: wildcard route syntax, query-string parsing, async error handling and several removed methods. This skill is written for 5.x and flags the differences.

Express does not validate input, authenticate, or document the API; it relies on middleware packages and your own code for those.

Instructions

Install and start a server

mkdir inventory-api && cd inventory-api
npm init -y
npm install express
npm pkg set type=module