I Built an Artisan-Like CLI for Next.js (MongoDB + JWT + CRUD in Seconds)

Shivam Kumar — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:06:21 +0000

🚀 I Built an Artisan-Like CLI for Next.js (With MongoDB + JWT)

If you’ve ever built a backend with Next.js, you know the pain…

Every time you start a new project, you end up doing the same things:

Setting up MongoDB connection
Writing authentication (JWT, hashing passwords)
Creating API routes
Structuring folders

Again… and again… and again.

🤔 The Problem

Next.js is amazing for full-stack apps, but it doesn’t give you a backend scaffold like Laravel.

In Laravel, you have:

php artisan make:model
php artisan make:controller

👉 Everything is fast and structured.

But in Next.js?

👉 You start from scratch every time.

💡 The Idea

I wanted Laravel Artisan-like speed in Next.js.

So I built:

🧰 poudwal

A CLI that scaffolds full backend systems for Next.js 14 App Router.

🎬 Demo

⚡ What poudwal Can Do

With a few commands, you can:

🚀 Create a full Next.js project
🔐 Add JWT authentication (login/register)
📦 Setup MongoDB with Mongoose
🔄 Generate complete CRUD APIs
🧱 Get a clean scalable structure
🟦 Use TypeScript support

🚀 Quick Start

npx poudwal create my-app --ts
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

🧑‍💻 Real Example

Let’s say you’re building an ecommerce app:

npx poudwal create ecommerce-app --ts
cd ecommerce-app

# Generate APIs
npx poudwal make:crud product
npx poudwal make:crud order

# Add authentication
npx poudwal install:auth

🎉 Done.

You now have:

Product & Order APIs
Authentication system
MongoDB setup
Ready backend

🧠 Why This Is Useful

Without poudwal:

❌ Write models manually
❌ Setup auth from scratch
❌ Create API routes manually

With poudwal:

✅ Everything generated instantly
✅ Clean structure
✅ Focus on business logic

⚙️ Key Commands

Create Project

poudwal create my-app

Generate Model

poudwal make:model User

Generate API

poudwal make:api product

Generate Full CRUD

poudwal make:crud Product

Install Auth

poudwal install:auth

🔐 Authentication Flow

User registers → password hashed
User logs in → JWT token generated
Middleware protects /api/* routes

🌱 Environment Setup

MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
JWT_EXPIRES=7d

📦 Try It Yourself

👉 https://www.npmjs.com/package/poudwal

💬 I’d Love Your Feedback

This is just the beginning.

If you’re a Next.js developer:

👉 Would this save your time?
👉 What feature should I add next?

🚀 Future Plans

Prisma support
Role-based authentication
Validation (Zod/Yup)
Better CLI UX

⭐ If You Like It

Star the repo
Try it in your next project
Share feedback

Thanks for reading 🙌

DEV Community: Shivam Kumar