? CRUD Operation with Node.js, Express & MongoDB

Lomanu4 · 12 Май 2025

This guide teaches how to build a simple Blog Article CRUD API using:

Node.js – runtime to run JavaScript on the server
Express – web framework for building APIs
MongoDB – NoSQL database
Mongoose – MongoDB ODM (object-document mapper)

?️ Step 1: Setup the Project

1. Create a folder and initialize npm:

mkdir blog-crud && cd blog-crud
npm init -y
2. Install required packages:

npm install express mongoose body-parser

express: Web framework
mongoose: Connect and interact with MongoDB
body-parser: Parse incoming JSON request bodies

? Step 2: Project Structure

Organize your project files like this:

blog-crud/
├── models/
│ └── Article.js # Mongoose schema
├── routes/
│ └── articles.js # Route handlers
├── server.js # Main app entry
├── package.json
? Step 3: Create the Express Server (server.js)

const express = require('express');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const articleRoutes = require('./routes/articles');

const app = express();

// Middleware to parse JSON
app.use(bodyParser.json());

// Route prefix: All article routes will start with /api/articles
app.use('/api/articles', articleRoutes);

// Connect to MongoDB
mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/blog_crud', {
useNewUrlParser: true,
useUnifiedTopology: true
}).then(() => console.log('

MongoDB Connected'))
.catch(err => console.error('

DB Connection Error:', err));

// Start the server
app.listen(3000, () => console.log('? Server running at http://localhost:3000'));

Explanation:

This is your main app file.
It sets up Express, connects to MongoDB, and loads article routes.

? Step 4: Create the Article Schema (models/Article.js)

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const articleSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
title: String,
content: String,
author: String,
createdAt: {
type: Date,
default: Date.now
}
});

module.exports = mongoose.model('Article', articleSchema);

Explanation:

Defines the structure of each Blog Article in the database.
Includes fields like title, content, author, and createdAt.

? Step 5: Create CRUD Routes (routes/articles.js)

const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();
const Article = require('../models/Article');
? 1. Create a new Article (POST /api/articles)

router.post('/', async (req, res) => {
try {
const article = await Article.create(req.body);
res.status(201).json(article);
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

Accepts JSON { title, content, author } and stores it in the database.

? 2. Read All Articles (GET /api/articles)

router.get('/', async (req, res) => {
try {
const articles = await Article.find();
res.json(articles);
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

Returns all articles stored in the database.

? 3. Read a Single Article by ID (GET /api/articles/:id)

router.get('/:id', async (req, res) => {
try {
const article = await Article.findById(req.params.id);
if (!article) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not found' });
res.json(article);
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

Fetches a specific article using its ID.

? 4. Update an Article (PUT /api/articles/:id)

router.put('/:id', async (req, res) => {
try {
const updated = await Article.findByIdAndUpdate(
req.params.id,
req.body,
{ new: true } // return the updated document
);
if (!updated) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not found' });
res.json(updated);
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

Edits article details like title or content.

? 5. Delete an Article (DELETE /api/articles/:id)

router.delete('/:id', async (req, res) => {
try {
const deleted = await Article.findByIdAndDelete(req.params.id);
if (!deleted) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not found' });
res.json({ message: '

Article deleted' });
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

Deletes the selected article from the database.

Finally routes/articles.js

const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();
const Article = require('../models/Article');

//

Create an article
router.post('/', async (req, res) => {
try {
const article = await Article.create(req.body);
res.status(201).json(article);
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

// ? Get all articles
router.get('/', async (req, res) => {
try {
const articles = await Article.find();
res.json(articles);
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

// ? Get a single article by ID
router.get('/:id', async (req, res) => {
try {
const article = await Article.findById(req.params.id);
if (!article) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not found' });
res.json(article);
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

//

Update an article
router.put('/:id', async (req, res) => {
try {
const updated = await Article.findByIdAndUpdate(req.params.id, req.body, { new: true });
if (!updated) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not found' });
res.json(updated);
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

//

Delete an article
router.delete('/:id', async (req, res) => {
try {
const deleted = await Article.findByIdAndDelete(req.params.id);
if (!deleted) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not found' });
res.json({ message: 'Article deleted' });
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
}
});

module.exports = router;
? Step 6: Testing the API

Use tools like Postman, Insomnia, or curl:

Create:

curl -X POST