Task Manager API

A RESTful API for managing tasks, built with Node.js, Express, and TypeScript. Data is persisted in MongoDB via Mongoose.

Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express 5
• Language: TypeScript
• Database: MongoDB (via Mongoose)
• Dev Runner: tsx
• Auto-restart: nodemon
• Environment: dotenv
• Package Manager: Yarn

Project Structure

task-manager-api-db/
├── src/
│   ├── app.ts
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── db.ts
│   ├── controllers/
│   │   └── tasks.controller.ts
│   ├── routes/
│   │   └── tasks.routes.ts
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   ├── logger.ts
│   │   ├── notFound.ts
│   │   └── errorHandler.ts
│   ├── models/
│   │   └── task.model.ts
│   ├── scripts/
│   │   └── seed.ts
│   └── types/
│       └── types.ts
├── .env
├── tsconfig.json
├── tsconfig.dev.json
├── nodemon.json
└── package.json

• src/app.ts — entry point, Express setup, middleware registration, route mounting, and server start
• src/config/db.ts — MongoDB connection function using Mongoose
• src/controllers/tasks.controller.ts — business logic for all task operations
• src/routes/tasks.routes.ts — maps HTTP methods and paths to controller functions
• src/middleware/logger.ts — logs every incoming request with timestamp, method, and path
• src/middleware/notFound.ts — handles requests to undefined routes with a 404 response
• src/middleware/errorHandler.ts — global error handler, catches unhandled errors and returns 500
• src/models/task.model.ts — Mongoose schema and model for the Task document
• src/scripts/seed.ts — script to populate the database with sample tasks
• src/types/types.ts — shared TypeScript type definitions

Prerequisites

• Node.js installed — verify with node -v
• Yarn installed — verify with yarn -v
• A MongoDB instance — either local or MongoDB Atlas

Setup

1. Clone or download the project folder
2. Navigate into the folder:

   cd task-manager-api-db
   

3. Install dependencies:

   yarn install
   

4. Create a .env file in the root with the following:

   PORT=3000
   MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   

Running the Project

Development

yarn dev

Starts the server with nodemon and tsx. Restarts automatically on any .ts file change in src.

Production

yarn build
yarn start

yarn build compiles TypeScript to JavaScript in the dist folder. yarn start runs the compiled output.

Seeding the Database

To populate the database with sample tasks:

npx tsx src/scripts/seed.ts

API Endpoints

Base URL: http://localhost:3000

---

Get all tasks

GET /api/tasks

Returns a paginated list of tasks. Supports filtering and sorting via query parameters.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
completed	boolean	Filter by completion status	—
priority	string	Filter by priority (low, medium, high)	—
sort	string	Field to sort by (e.g. createdAt)	—
order	string	Sort direction: asc or desc	asc
page	number	Page number	1
limit	number	Number of results per page	10

Example requests

GET /api/tasks?completed=true
GET /api/tasks?priority=high&sort=createdAt&order=desc
GET /api/tasks?page=2&limit=5

Response 200

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "_id": "64f1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1",
      "title": "Fix login bug",
      "description": "Users are unable to log in with Google OAuth",
      "completed": false,
      "priority": "high",
      "createdAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
      "updatedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "total": 10,
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 10
}

---

Get a task by ID

GET /api/tasks/:id

Response 200

{
  "_id": "64f1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1",
  "title": "Fix login bug",
  "description": "Users are unable to log in with Google OAuth",
  "completed": false,
  "priority": "high",
  "createdAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Response 400 — invalid ID format

{ "message": "Invalid ID" }

Response 404

{ "message": "Task not found" }

---

Create a task

POST /api/tasks

Request body

{
  "title": "New Task",
  "description": "Task description",
  "priority": "medium"
}

Both title and description are required. priority defaults to "low" if not provided. completed defaults to false.

Response 201

{
  "task": {
    "_id": "64f1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1",
    "title": "New Task",
    "description": "Task description",
    "completed": false,
    "priority": "medium",
    "createdAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
    "updatedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "message": "Task created successfully"
}

Response 400 — missing required fields

{ "message": "Title and description are required" }

---

Update a task

PUT /api/tasks/:id

Updates one or more fields on an existing task.

Request body — all fields optional

{
  "title": "Updated title",
  "completed": true,
  "priority": "high"
}

Response 200

{ "message": "Task updated successfully" }

Response 400 — empty request body

{ "message": "No fields to update" }

Response 400 — invalid ID format

{ "message": "Invalid ID" }

Response 404

{ "message": "Task not found" }

---

Delete a task

DELETE /api/tasks/:id

Response 200

{ "message": "Task deleted successfully" }

Response 400 — invalid ID format

{ "message": "Invalid ID" }

Response 404

{ "message": "Task not found" }

---

Data Model

{
  _id: ObjectId;        // auto-generated by MongoDB
  title: string;        // required
  description: string;  // required
  completed: boolean;   // default: false
  priority: "low" | "medium" | "high";  // default: "low"
  createdAt: Date;      // auto-managed by Mongoose
  updatedAt: Date;      // auto-managed by Mongoose
}

Middleware

Request Logger — logs the HTTP method, path, and timestamp of every incoming request.

404 Handler — catches requests to undefined routes and returns a JSON error response.

Global Error Handler — catches unhandled errors and returns a 500 response. Mongoose ValidationError is caught in the controller and returned as a 400 instead.