No More Boilerplate: Let AI Generate Your Express.js Endpoints

The Boilerplate Problem

Writing the same createTask, getTask, updateTask, deleteTask handlers is tedious; dozens of tutorials show identical patterns and we all spend countless hours writing the same repetitive logic over and over again.

A lot of no-code backend solutions and open-source projects and libraries help devs generate boilerplate and prove that backend engineers want simpler ways to build their APIs.

But with the development of AI tools like Line0, Cursor and Windsurf, there is a much easier way to get production ready backend services from just a simple prompt:

Quick Start Checklist

Describe your data model (e.g., Task { id:int, title:string, completed:bool })
Prompt the AI: "Build a backend service for Tasks with validation and error handling"
Review and tweak - avoid “vibe coding” by understanding each generated line of code; blindly accepting the code can introduce security vulnerabilities and technical debt
Write integration tests or let the agent generate one
Commit to GitHub

Example Prompt & Result

Build an Express.js backend service for Tasks with zod validation and connect to PostgreSQL for storage

The agent will then generate code similar to this:

// src/routes/tasks.ts

import express from "express";

import { taskValidator } from "@/schemas/task.js";
import { validate } from "@/middleware/validate.js";

import { notFoundError } from "@/utils/errors/common.js";
import { response } from "@/utils/response.js";

const router = express.Router();

router
  .route("/")
  .post(validate(taskValidator().createtaskSchema, "body"), async (req, res, next) => {
    const payload = req.body;
    await taskController
      .createTask(payload)
      .then((result) => res.status(201).json(response(result)))
      .catch(next);
  })
  .get(async (_req, res, next) => {
    await taskController
      .getAllTasks()
      .then((result) => res.json(response(result)))
      .catch(next);
  });

/* ...other endpoints... */

export { router as taskRouter };

Tools like Line0 also generate all the necessary business logic (taskController, schema validators taskValidator and response handlers) from your initial prompt, giving you a fully working API with no additional work.

Prompt Engineering Tips

Goal	Prompt	Why it Works
Pagination	“add page & limit query params”	Guides the agent to extend the response signature.
Soft Delete	“implement deletedAt flag instead of physical delete”	Generates archiving logic automatically.
Auth Guard	“wrap all routes in an auth middleware that checks JWT”	Automatically adds authentication to all your endpoints

Productivity Gains

78% of devs report higher output once they let AI handle most of their code
GitHub’s 2024 survey found 97% have tried AI coding at least once

Best Practices

Keep unit tests close - if you are using Line0, it can also draft them for you
Enforce linting/formatting to maintain consistency
Review dependencies; the coding tool may pull in packages you don’t need

In my previous post I explain how to build a simple API using AI in under 5 minutes.

Ivan Ivanov @ivanivanovv