Express web server, minimal template

server.ts

// Import packages, route middleware, and initialize app
import express, { Express, Request, Response } from 'express'
const app = express()
const port: number = 1337
const pathToDist: string = 'dist'


// ----------------------------------------------------
// Install any middleware before adding routes
// Important middleware: cors, static folders


// ----------------------------------------------------
// Routes
// https://insomnia.rest/  strongly recommended for testing your API
app.get('/', (req: Request, res: Response) => {
    // Remove this route after you have tested that the server works
    res.send('Hello from server')
})

app.get('/api/data', (req: Request, res: Response) => {
    // Example API request handler. Typically we use
    // the Express.Router middleware to group API routes
    // in separate files
    // https://expressjs.com/en/guide/using-middleware.html#middleware.router
    let exampleData: string[] = ['example']
    res.send(exampleData)
})

app.get('*', (req: Request, res: Response) => {
    // Wildcard route catches all routes that haven't
    // been caught previously. Send index.html to
    // enable frontend routing, for example using
    // React Router.
    res.sendFile('path/to/dist/index.html')
})


// ----------------------------------------------------
// Finally start server
app.listen(port, () => {
    console.log('Server is listening on port ' + port);
})

To add a static folder reliably in Node and Express, you need to calculate the correct path:

const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
const pathToStaticFolder = join(__dirname, 'your-folder-name')
app.use( express.static(pathToStaticFolder) )