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Nabin Kandel
Nabin Kandel

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🚀 NestJS + Prisma V7 + Vercel Starter

#nestjs #prisma #vercel

A minimal, production‑ready REST API with JWT authentication and todo CRUD, built with NestJS, Prisma v7, and PostgreSQL — optimised for Vercel serverless deployment.

Stop wrestling with boilerplate. Clone this, configure your database, and you've got a live API in minutes.

✨ What's included

  • 🔐 JWT auth – register and login endpoints ready to go
  • 📝 Full todo CRUD – each user manages their own private list
  • 🧩 Clean NestJS architecture – separate modules for auth, todo, and a shared prisma service
  • ⚡ Serverless‑ready – Prisma client singleton prevents connection exhaustion on Vercel
  • 🛠️ Zero‑config deployment – push to GitHub, import to Vercel, done

⚡ Quick Setup

1. Clone and rename

git clone https://github.com/nabinkdl/Nest-setup my-app
cd my-app
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Rename my-app to whatever fits your project. Then start fresh:

rm -rf .git && git init
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2. Set project metadata (no manual editing)

npm pkg set name="your-name"
npm pkg set description="this is your description"
npm pkg set author="your name"
npm pkg set license="MIT"
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3. Install dependencies

bun install        # you can also use npm or yarn
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4. Configure your database

cp .env.example .env
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Open .env and add your PostgreSQL connection string:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:5432/mydb?schema=public"
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Provider Connection string tip
Neon append ?sslmode=require
Supabase append ?pgbouncer=true
Railway use the provided string as‑is

5. Run the migration

bunx prisma migrate dev --name init
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(Optional) Explore your data with Prisma Studio:

bunx prisma studio
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6. Start developing

bun run start:dev
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Your API is now live at http://localhost:3000 🎉

☁️ Deploy to Vercel

  1. Push your repo to GitHub.
  2. Import the project on vercel.com/new.
  3. Add the environment variables:
    • DATABASE_URL – your PostgreSQL connection string
    • NODE_ENV – production
  4. Hit Deploy – Vercel will automatically run: 
   bunx prisma generate && bun run build
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Your serverless NestJS API is now live!

📡 API Endpoints

All /todos routes require a JWT Bearer token in the Authorization header.

Method Route Body (JSON) Description
POST /auth/register {"email": "user@test.com", "password": "123"} Register a new user
POST /auth/login {"email": "user@test.com", "password": "123"} Login, receive a JWT
GET /todos – List all user's todos
GET /todos/:id – Get a single todo
POST /todos {"title": "Buy milk"} Create a todo
PATCH /todos/:id {"title": "Buy milk updated"} Update a todo
DELETE /todos/:id – Delete a todo

Try it with curl, Postman, or your future frontend.

📁 Project Structure 

src/
├── app.module.ts             # Root module
├── app.controller.ts         # Root controller
├── main.ts                   # App entry point
├── common/                   # Shared utilities
│   ├── decorators/           # @CurrentUser, etc.
│   └── guards/               # JwtAuthGuard
├── core/
│   └── prisma/               # Prisma module & service (singleton)
└── modules/
    ├── auth/                 # Auth module (register, login, JWT)
    └── todo/                 # Todo CRUD module

prisma/
├── schema.prisma             # Database schema
└── migrations/               # Prisma migration files
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Everything is intentionally minimal so you can understand and extend it with confidence.

💡 Notes

  • Singleton Prisma client – The PrismaService reuses a single client instance across serverless invocations to avoid exhausting database connections.
  • Never commit .env – use .env.example as a safe template for your team.
  • Best for – hobby projects, small startups, hackathons, or as a learning base. Need rate limiting or more complex logic? The architecture is clean enough to scale with your needs.

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