Security First
JWT authentication, Helmet security headers, CORS configuration, rate limiting, and validated environment configuration protect every endpoint from day one.
Observable
Structured Pino logging, Kubernetes-ready health probes, Prometheus metrics, and Sentry error tracking give teams complete visibility into service behavior.
Developer Ready
Interactive Swagger documentation, pre-configured linting with Husky hooks, REST Client collections, and TypeScript strict mode make iteration fast and safe.
What I Built
I created a comprehensive NestJS template that serves as a solid foundation for any backend service. It removes the boilerplate of setting up authentication, observability, security, and documentation so teams can focus on business logic from day one. The template emphasizes sensible defaults and production-grade patterns.
JWT
Auth built-in
3 types
Health probes
<30s
Setup to dev
Core Features
- JWT-based authentication with guards and utilities for protected routes.
- Interactive Swagger/OpenAPI documentation at /api-docs with schema validation.
- Kubernetes-ready health checks: comprehensive, liveness, and readiness probes.
- Prometheus-compatible metrics endpoint for monitoring and alerting.
- Structured JSON logging with Pino for high-performance observability.
- Sentry integration for production error tracking and alerting.
- Pre-commit hooks with Husky for automated linting and formatting.
- Global validation pipes with class-validator for consistent request validation.
- URI-based API versioning for backward-compatible evolution.
- Security hardening with Helmet, CORS, and rate limiting configured.
Architecture Philosophy
The template follows NestJS module architecture with clear separation of concerns. Authentication logic lives in dedicated guards and decorators, configuration validation happens at startup with class-validator, and middleware layers handle security, logging, and error transformation consistently across all endpoints.
Stack at a Glance
Core Framework
NestJS, TypeScript (strict mode), Node.js 16+, Express adapter
Security & Validation
JWT, Helmet, CORS, Rate limiting, class-validator, Global exception filters
Observability
Pino structured logging, Prometheus metrics, Health checks (Terminus), Sentry error tracking, Swagger/OpenAPI documentation
Developer Experience
The template ships with comprehensive tooling for developer productivity. Husky pre-commit hooks automatically lint and format code before commits, preventing style drift. REST Client files and Postman collections let developers test endpoints without leaving their editor. TypeScript strict mode catches issues at compile time, and Swagger documentation stays in sync with code through decorators.
Outcome
This template has been battle-tested across multiple projects and provides a strong foundation for building production services. It eliminates weeks of setup time, enforces best practices through automation, and gives teams immediate visibility into service health. The modular structure makes it easy to extend while maintaining consistency.
Check out the template, read the comprehensive documentation, or use it as a starting point for your next backend service. https://github.com/lefos13/nestjs-backend-template.