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Directory Structure

Understand the directory structure of your project.

important

We highly recommend you to use the node artisan make command to generate the files of your application. If using this command, it will automatically generate the file and register it wherever it is needed. Take as an example the node artisan make:command command. First it will generate the file and then will register the command inside the commands map property of .athennarc.json file.

Default structure​

The app directory​

The app directory contains the core code of your application. We'll explore this directory in more detail soon. Almost all the classes in your application will be in this directory.

The bootstrap directory​

The bootstrap directory contains all of your application's bootstrap files. It's here that Athenna holds the main.ts file that bootstrap the application using the Ignite class.

The config directory​

The config directory contains all of your application's configuration files. It's a great idea to read through all of these files and familiarize yourself with all the options available to you.

The database directory​

This directory does not exist by default, but will be created for you if you execute the following command:

# To install the library and configure it
node artisan install @athenna/database

# To just configure the library
node artisan configure @athenna/database

The database directory contains your database migrations, model factories, and seeds. If you wish, you may also use this directory to hold an SQLite database.

The providers directory​

The providers directory contains all the service providers for your application. Service providers bootstrap your application by binding services in the service container, registering events, or performing any other tasks to prepare your application to run.

The routes directory​

The routes directory contains all the route definitions for your application. By default, several route files are included with Athenna:

  • The http.ts file is where you will define the entry point of your api using the Route facade that is provided by the HttpRouteProvider.
  • The console.ts file is where you will define the entry point of your commands using the Artisan facade that is provided by the ArtisanProvider.
important

As you may have noticed your project does not have the console.ts file. We only recommend using this file when you don't want to use TypeScript in your application or when you want to add some personalized option of commander to your command. Check the example:

import { Artisan } from '@athenna/artisan'

Artisan.route('hello', function (helloArg: string, options: { hello: string }) {
    console.log(helloArg)
    console.log(options.hello)
}) // 👈 Artisan.route return an instance of Commander
.argument('<hello>', 'Description for hello argument.')
.option('--hello', 'Description for hello flag.')

The storage directory​

The storage directory contains your logs, file caches, files uploaded locally and other files generated by the framework. This directory is segregated into the following directories:

  • The app directory may be used to store any files generated by your application.
  • The framework directory is used to store framework generated files and caches.
  • The logs directory contains your application's log files.

The tests directory​

You can create a test executing the node artisan make:test command. The tests directory contains your unitary and E2E tests. Each test file name should always end with the word Test at the end. You may run your tests using the node artisan test command.

warning

If your test file name does not end with Test, it will be ignored and the test class will not run. But, you can customize this behavior in the configure function of Japa inside your Path.bootstrap('test.ts') file.

Slim structure​

The slim project structure has only three folders when you create the project:

  • The bin directory is the same as bootstrap.
  • The src directory is used to store all the source code files of your applications.
  • The tests directory is the same as tests.

Do your own structure​

There are some files in your project that are crucial to keep in certain places. Let's analyze some of them:

  • The Path.bootstrap('main.ts') file is the entry point of the node artisan serve command. Every time that you run this command, Athenna will use this file to run your application.
  • The Path.bootstrap('artisan.ts') file is the entry point of the artisan.js script.
  • The config path is where you are going to set up your configuration files. You can learn more about configuration files at the configuration documentation section.
  • The Path.routes('http.ts') file is where you are going to register your Http server routes.

Athenna is a framework with a lot of opinions, with predefined project structures; it was built that way to make your life easier. But speaking from developer to developer, we know how fun is to be able to have control over everything in your application, especially the structure of your project 😎.

With that in mind, Athenna was built in a fully configurable way. You can create your files and folders anywhere, even the one that is crucial to keep in certain places.