{"id":11742,"date":"2021-09-06T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T07:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.couchbase.com\/blog\/?p=11742"},"modified":"2025-06-13T21:22:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T04:22:58","slug":"build-a-rest-api-with-node-js-express-and-couchbase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.couchbase.com\/blog\/build-a-rest-api-with-node-js-express-and-couchbase\/","title":{"rendered":"Build a REST-Based Application with Node.js, Express and Couchbase"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re new to Node.js, Couchbase<\/strong> or both, you’re about to level up your skills.<\/p>\n

Today I’ll show you how to build a minimal REST-based application for retrieving documents from Couchbase using Node.js and Express.<\/p>\n

This post continues my introductory series on using Node.js with Couchbase<\/a> (including last week’s post on async functions<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In today’s post, we’ll build on my previous examples of using Node.js and Couchbase<\/a>, so check out those two earlier articles if you haven’t already. I’ll also assume you have basic familiarity with JavaScript, Node.js and NoSQL document databases.<\/p>\n

Get the Express Module<\/h2>\n

Starting from where we left off last week, we can add a web-based REST interface to help isolate your web application from the database. To do this, you need the Express module. Install it and add it to your package dependencies using:<\/p>\n

npm install express --save\r\n<\/pre>\n
<\/div>\n
To test that Express is installed correctly, you can build a small application (app.js<\/code>) that creates the HTTP server and returns a `Hello World` value. For later convenience, wrap it with an `async` function as you can see below:<\/p>\n
var app = require('express')();\r\nconst couchbase = require(\"couchbase\");\r\n\r\nasync function main(){\r\n  app.get('\/', (req, res) => res.send('Hello world!'));\r\n  app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Listening on port 3000'));\r\n}\r\n\r\nmain();\r\n<\/pre>\n
<\/div>\n
Launch it and access it through a web browser on port 3000. It should look something like this image below:<\/p>\n
node app.js<\/pre>\n
<\/div>\n
\"Hello<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Congratulations! You’ve successfully built your first Express app, albeit a small one.<\/p>\n
Building the Application<\/h2>\n
The application has three components:<\/p>\n