DEV Community

Cover image for NestForge
Muhammad Ahmad
Muhammad Ahmad

Posted on

NestForge

🚀 Automate Your NestJS Backend: From SQL Schema to Ready-to-Deploy CRUDs with NestForge

“You bring the schema. We bring the code.”
If you’ve ever built a NestJS project, you’ve probably spent hours writing boilerplate — entities, DTOs, services, controllers — all just to get basic CRUDs working.
We felt that pain too.
That’s why we built NestForge — a complete NestJS code generator that transforms your SQL or JSON schema into production-ready backend modules in seconds.
Now, with NestForge Schema Architect and NestForge SQL to JSON, you can visually design your database, convert it to JSON, and generate an entire backend instantly.
Let’s see how it works with a real example.

🧩 Meet the NestForge Ecosystem

NestForge is not just a single CLI tool — it’s a suite designed to automate backend creation from concept to code.

🧱 1. NestForge Schema Architect

🎯 Try it here
This GPT tool helps you design your database schema visually inside ChatGPT.
You can describe your app in plain English, and it will generate a normalized SQL schema with proper relationships.
Example:
“I want a property listing system with properties and their images.”
It generates something like this:

NestForge Schema Architect in action
Looks familiar?
Now let’s turn it into a format that NestForge understands.

🔄 2. NestForge SQL to JSON

⚙️ Try it here
Paste your SQL schema into this tool — it automatically converts it into a NestForge-compatible JSON schema.
Here’s what the JSON for our example looks like:

NestForge SQL-to-JSON in action
This JSON schema defines:
• Entity names
• Fields and types
• CRUD functionalities
• Relationships between tables
Now it’s time for the fun part — generating code.

⚙️ 3. NestForge CLI

🧩 GitHub Repository
Once you have your SQL and JSON schema ready:
1️⃣ Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hhsadiq/NestForge.git
cd NestForge
2️⃣ Paste your schema
• Paste your SQL schema into the .sql file mentioned in the docs
• Paste your JSON schema into the .json file mentioned in the docs
3️⃣ Run setup
npm run setup
That’s it 🎉
NestForge will automatically generate your complete backend — with controllers, services, entities, DTOs, and even test files.
Here is what code generation looks like

nestforge generating code

🧠 Clean, Scalable Architecture

NestForge follows Hexagonal (Ports & Adapters) architecture.
Each generated module includes:
• Entities & Repositories – for persistence
• Services – for business logic
• Controllers – for API endpoints
• DTOs – for validation and typing
• Tests – for reliability
This structure keeps your project modular, testable, and ready to scale.

⚡ Why Developers Love It
✅ No boilerplate — you focus on features, not setup
✅ Full automation — schema → backend in one command
✅ AI-assisted tools (Schema Architect + SQL-to-JSON)
✅ Swagger & Jest ready
✅ Cursor AI support via .cursorrules
✅ Free & Open Source

🧩 Try the Complete Flow

1️⃣
Design schema visually
NestForge Schema Architect
2️⃣
Convert SQL → JSON
NestForge SQL to JSON
3️⃣
Generate code
NestForge GitHub Repository
In under five minutes, you’ll have a fully functional NestJS backend — ready to run, test, and deploy.

💬 Final Thoughts

NestForge eliminates boilerplate forever.
You define your schema — NestForge builds everything else.
From SQL to production-ready CRUDs, it’s the fastest way to spin up scalable, clean, and maintainable NestJS projects.
Next time you start a backend — don’t scaffold, forge it 🔥
👉 https://github.com/hhsadiq/NestForge

Top comments (0)