Node Proxy App for STARLIMS API

Description

This Node.js application serves as a proxy server for interacting with the STARLIMS API. It provides a simple interface for making requests to the STARLIMS API from a client-side application while handling authentication and proxying requests to the STARLIMS server.

Because it is using REST API, it allows handling CORS between this proxy and the client app, without having to change anything on STARLIMS side.

This project works hand in hand with https://github.com/michelroberge/starlims-react

STARLIMS Preparation

• Create the necessary STARLIMS scripts (see in ./src/starlims_scripts)
• Whitelist the ReactProxy.RunAction script
• Enable the REST API in STARLIMS

NOTE: If you don't know what to do with the .ssl scripts in the src/starlims_scripts directory, then perhaps you shouldn't be trying this.

Docker Compose

If you have both this repo and the starlims-react repo cloned, you can just get the docker-compose.yml file and organize your project like this:

./project/docker-compose.yml
./project/starlims-react/
./project/starlims-node-proxy/

Follow both repo's instructions on .env files (credentials/secrets/url/etc.) Then run the up & build command: docker compose up --build

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/michelroberge/starlims-node-proxy

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Create a .env file in the root directory of the project with the following configuration:

   STARLIMS_PRIVATE_KEY=<your_STARLIMS_private_key>
   STARLIMS_ACCESS_KEY=<your_STARLIMS_access_key>
   STARLIMS_URL=<your_STARLIMS_API_URL>/rest.web.api/v1/generic/action
   STARLIMS_DEFAULT_EMAIL=<default_email_for_STARLIMS>
   STARLIMS_HTTP_PROXY=http|https (try http if https returns 401 - this is just how the key is calculated)
   PROXY_PORT=3000

   Make sure to replace placeholders with your actual STARLIMS credentials and API URL.

Usage

1. Start the server:

   npm start

   This will start the server at http://localhost:3000 by default, unless overridden by the PROXY_PORT variable in the .env file.

2. Make requests to the proxy endpoint: Send POST requests to http://localhost:3000/proxy with the following JSON payload:

   {
       "action": "your_STARLIMS_action",
       "parameters": {
           "param1": "value1",
           "param2": "value2"
       },
       "email": "user@example.com"
   }

   • action: The specific action you want to perform in STARLIMS.
   • parameters: Any parameters required for the action.
   • email: Email associated with the request.

Additional Notes

• CORS is enabled for requests originating from http://localhost:3033 to allow communication from client-side applications running on that domain.
• Ensure that your STARLIMS credentials and API URL are kept secure and not exposed publicly.
• For more information on the STARLIMS API and available actions, refer to the STARLIMS documentation.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvements, please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License with Commercial restrictions. See the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Michel Roberge

Contact

For any inquiries or support, please contact michel_roberge@msn.com.

Acknowledgements

• ChatGPT and many other online resources for the learning curve on node!