Node.js Backend Patterns
Comprehensive guidance for building scalable, maintainable, and production-ready Node.js backend applications with modern frameworks, architectural patterns, and best practices.
When to Use This Skill
- Building REST APIs or GraphQL servers
- Creating microservices with Node.js
- Implementing authentication and authorization
- Designing scalable backend architectures
- Setting up middleware and error handling
- Integrating databases (SQL and NoSQL)
- Building real-time applications with WebSockets
- Implementing background job processing
Detailed patterns and worked examples
Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.
Best Practices
- Use TypeScript: Type safety prevents runtime errors
- Implement proper error handling: Use custom error classes
- Validate input: Use libraries like Zod or Joi
- Use environment variables: Never hardcode secrets
- Implement logging: Use structured logging (Pino, Winston)
- Add rate limiting: Prevent abuse
- Use HTTPS: Always in production
- Implement CORS properly: Don't use
*in production - Use dependency injection: Easier testing and maintenance
- Write tests: Unit, integration, and E2E tests
- Handle graceful shutdown: Clean up resources
- Use connection pooling: For databases
- Implement health checks: For monitoring
- Use compression: Reduce response size
- Monitor performance: Use APM tools
Testing Patterns
See javascript-testing-patterns skill for comprehensive testing guidance.