Unable to create custom routes using middleware

[goldmont]

index.js

module.exports = () => {
    return {
        home: getHome()
    }
}

function getHome() {
    const items = []
    for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        items.push({
            id: i
        })
    }
    return items
}

routes.json

{
    "/home/:id": "/home?id=:id"
}

middleware.js

const JSON_SERVER = require('json-server')
const SERVER = JSON_SERVER.create()
const MIDDLEWARES = JSON_SERVER.defaults()
const ROUTER = JSON_SERVER.router({})

var isAuthenticated = true

SERVER.use(MIDDLEWARES)
SERVER.get('/logout', function(req, res) {
    isAuthenticated = false
})
SERVER.use(JSON_SERVER.bodyParser)
SERVER.use(ROUTER)

module.exports = function(req, res, next) {
    if (isAuthorized(req)) {
        next()
    } else {
        res.status(401).send("Error")
    }
}

function isAuthorized(req) {
    return isAuthenticated
}

Hi,

I made the following configuration and it works pretty fine except for the middleware's /logout custom route. The index.js generates five tiny JSON Objects with only the ID field; the routes.json has custom route that allow me to easily select one of the five JSON Objects using an ID as filter; for last, there is the middleware.js which I use to authenticate the user who makes a request. The command I use to launch the server is the following:

json-server index.js -m middleware.js --routes routes.json --port 3000

The issue I'm experiencing with the middleware's /logout custom route is that when I do a GET request to that endpoint, Json-Server tells me that the route does not exist by returning a 404 status code. Can anybody help me with this?

[Nilegfx]

Hi @peppe130

You are mixing the main two approaches/ways of using json-server library.

json-server should be used either as CLI command or as a nodejs module (not both ways at the same time)

So, let's start analysis/clarify the confusions here:

• in middleware.js you have a lot of code that you assumed it works but in reality, it doesn't do anything at all, so the following middleware.js file is an exact equivalent to the one you provide try it.

var isAuthenticated = true;

module.exports = function(req, res, next) {
  if (isAuthorized(req)) {
    next()
  } else {
    res.status(401).send("Error")
  }
}

function isAuthorized(req) {
  return isAuthenticated;
}

Given that, your SERVER.get('/logout') or the whole SERVER logic did NOT even ran, what made json-server works is the command line you used:

json-server index.js -m middleware.js --routes routes.json --port 3000

So, what json-server get from the middleware.js file is only the simple middleware that checks if the isAuthenticated variable is true.

in order to fix this confusion, you could run json-server as module only (not CLI command) as follows:

• create db.js -> this is what we call seed file (your current index.js content)
• server.js -> this will be your server (main entry)

server.js

const JSON_SERVER = require( 'json-server' );
const SERVER      = JSON_SERVER.create();
const MIDDLEWARES = JSON_SERVER.defaults();

//YOUR SEED FILE
const seed        = require( './db.js' );

// because your seedfile exports a function, you should run it to get the generated json object
const data        = seed();

// pass the `data` json object to `json-server`'s router function to generate the necessary routes
const ROUTER      = JSON_SERVER.router(data);

let isAuthenticated = true;

// it is recommended to use the bodyParser middleware before any other middleware in your application
SERVER.use( JSON_SERVER.bodyParser );

//your Authentication middleware (simplified to check the variable directly
// feel free to go back to the function approach if your authentication checks are more complex
SERVER.use( function ( req, res, next ) {
  if ( isAuthenticated ) {
    next();
  } else {
    res.status( 401 ).send( "Unauthorized!" )
  }
} );

// the logout endpoint
SERVER.get( '/logout', function ( req, res ) {
  isAuthenticated = false;
  res.status(200).send('logged out');
} );

//middlewares required by json-server to run correctly
// this sets up the static serving, Gzip, logger,
// the internal json-server body-parser .. etc
SERVER.use( MIDDLEWARES );

/*
I am not sure why you are rewriting this route like this,
because this subtle rewrite changes how you get/patch a single resource
so instead of getting single resource you made it search for
all resources that has the provided `id`, thus, it returns
an array of resources which in your case will always be an array
with single resource, plus it will prevent patching "modifying"
all `/home/:id` resources.

anyways, I kept it as it is.
if you really know what you are doing here, ignore all the above,
otherwise, try to disable this middleware to know what I mean.
*/
SERVER.use(JSON_SERVER.rewriter({
  '/home/:id': '/home?id=:id'
}));

// this is where `json-server`'s magic happens ;)
SERVER.use( ROUTER );

/*
start the application by listening to port 3000,
Although this won't print the nice starting message you see when
running `json-server` as CLI command, it still runs the app correctly.
*/
SERVER.listen( 3000, function () {
  console.log( 'http://localhost:3000' );
} );

start the server by running (don't use json-server command)

node index.js

I tried to add detailed comments above, additionally, you can fork this repo which could help you in case you still have some confusions:

git clone https://github.com/Nilegfx/json-server-issue-690 && cd json-server-issue-690 && npm install && node server.js

[goldmont]

Amazing explanation. Thank you so much man!

[PLQin]

Very detailed explanation. Great!
I have a question, if I want to watch the router.json and other separate API files, how do I edit them in server.js ? @Nilegfx