I built a real-time dev panel for Express.js - plug it in with one line of code

Divyesh Chotaliya — Fri, 08 May 2026 06:58:27 +0000

The Problem

Every Express developer knows this pain:

Scatter console.log everywhere just to see what's happening
No idea which routes are actually registered
Zero visibility into incoming requests
Checking CPU/memory by opening a separate tool

I got tired of it. So I built express-dev-panel.

What is express-dev-panel?

A lightweight, plug-and-play developer panel for Express.js apps. One line of code gives you a full real-time dashboard in your browser.

import { createPanel } from 'express-dev-panel';

app.use(createPanel(app));

That's it. No config. No boilerplate.

What you get

✅ All registered routes in one view
See every GET/POST/PUT/DELETE route your app has without digging through files.

✅ Real-time request logs
Every incoming request with method, path, status code and response time live.

✅ System metrics
CPU usage, memory, uptime at a glance.

✅ Open file directly in your Editor
Click any route and jump straight to the source file in your editor.

Installation

npm install express-dev-panel

import express from 'express';
import { createPanel } from 'express-dev-panel';

const app = express();

app.use(createPanel(app));

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server running on http://localhost:3000');
});

Panel opens automatically at:

http://localhost:3000/_panel

Who is this for?

Express developers who want faster debugging
Backend developers tired of blind development
Anyone building REST APIs with Node.js

What's next?

Currently in testing phase. Planning to add:

Request body inspector
Error tracking
Environment variables viewer
Auth route protection for staging use

Feedback welcome!

I'd love to hear from the Dev.to community:

What feature would make this a must-have for you?
Would you use this in development only, or staging too?
What's missing?

Drop a comment below 👇 every piece of feedback shapes the next release!

DEV Community: Divyesh Chotaliya