node-express

node-express is a cursor rule for Cursor from PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules. It costs 429 tokens per session, scanned A, original, CC0-1.0.

A set of best-practice rules for building Node.js web servers and Express.js APIs. It covers project structure, routes, validation, errors, authentication, databases, and security.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to create or maintain REST APIs and server-side applications with Node.js and Express.
Why use it?
It provides a consistent checklist for common backend concerns, reducing poorly organized routes, weak input handling, broken authentication, and incomplete error responses.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Written for Cursor: a Cursor rule (.mdc).

Good fit Use it to create or maintain REST APIs and server-side applications with Node.js and Express.

Compare 6 cursor rules from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/patrickjs/awesome-cursorrules/node-express
About the project

PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules is a collection of Markdown rule files that give Cursor AI editor project-specific instructions about code, frameworks, workflows, and standards. Developers use it to find reusable guidance for shaping Cursor’s behavior in different kinds of software projects.

PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules · 40,734 stars · on GitHub

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules

Made for: Cursor.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for node-express

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/patrickjs/awesome-cursorrules/node-express.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/rules/patrickjs/awesome-cursorrules/node-express)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/patrickjs/awesome-cursorrules/node-express"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/patrickjs/awesome-cursorrules/node-express.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 429 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 429 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00429 $0.00429
Opus 5 $0.00215 $0.00215
Sonnet 5 $0.00086 $0.00086
Haiku 4.5 $0.00043 $0.00043

Measured 4d ago against content hash 561b40a9fe56, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

node-express scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 4d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

Origin

Copies of this mod

6 near-identical copies found in the catalogue:

rules/node-express.mdc · 87 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 87 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Node.js and Express.js Best Practices

Project Structure

  • Use proper directory structure
  • Implement proper module organization
  • Use proper middleware organization
  • Keep routes organized by domain
  • Implement proper error handling
  • Use proper configuration management

Express Setup

  • Use proper middleware setup
  • Implement proper routing
  • Use proper error handling
  • Configure proper security middleware
  • Implement proper validation
  • Use proper static file serving

API Design

  • Use proper REST principles
  • Implement proper versioning
  • Use proper request validation
  • Handle errors properly
  • Implement proper response formats
  • Document APIs properly

Database Integration

  • Use proper ORM/ODM
  • Implement proper migrations
  • Use proper connection pooling
  • Implement proper transactions
  • Use proper query optimization
  • Handle database errors properly

Authentication

  • Implement proper JWT handling
  • Use proper password hashing
  • Implement proper session management
  • Use proper OAuth integration
  • Implement proper role-based access
  • Handle auth errors properly

Security

  • Use proper CORS setup
  • Implement proper rate limiting
  • Use proper security headers
  • Implement proper input validation
  • Use proper encryption
  • Handle security vulnerabilities

Performance

  • Use proper caching
  • Implement proper async operations
  • Use proper connection pooling
  • Implement proper logging
  • Use proper monitoring
  • Handle high traffic properly

Testing

  • Write proper unit tests
  • Implement proper integration tests
  • Use proper test runners
  • Implement proper mocking
  • Test error scenarios
  • Use proper test coverage

Deployment

  • Use proper Docker setup
  • Implement proper CI/CD
  • Use proper environment variables
  • Configure proper logging
  • Implement proper monitoring
  • Handle deployment errors

Best Practices

  • Follow Node.js best practices
  • Use proper async/await
  • Implement proper error handling
  • Use proper logging
  • Handle process signals properly
  • Document code properly

Read the full file on GitHub · 87 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 4d ago First seen · 87 lines · 429 tokens per session scan A 561b40a9fe56

Subscribe to this mod's changes

node-express is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules (40,734 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed CC0-1.0. It adds 429 tokens to every session, about $0.0021 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.