create-backlist

🚀 Create Backlist CLI

The World's First AST-Powered Polyglot Backend Generator.

create-backlist is an intelligent CLI tool that Reverse Engineers your frontend source code to automatically generate production-ready backends.

Unlike traditional scaffolders that rely on static templates, it uses Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) Analysis to deep-scan your code (React, Vue, etc.), understand your API intent, and generate a custom backend in Node.js, Python, Java, or C# with full Docker support.

🧠 The Core Technology (AST Analysis)

Why is this tool unique? It doesn't just "read" text; it "understands" structure.

We use an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) engine to break down your frontend code into its fundamental components. This allows us to ignore comments, spacing, and formatting, focusing purely on the logic.

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#007ACC', 'edgeLabelBackground':'#ffffff', 'tertiaryColor': '#f4f4f4'}}}%%
graph TD
    subgraph Frontend Source
        Code["fetch('/api/users', { method: 'POST' })"]
    end
    
    Code -->|Parser| AST[AST Node: CallExpression]
    
    subgraph AST Logic Engine
        AST -->|Detect| Type[Callee: fetch]
        AST -->|Extract| Arg1[Arg 0: '/api/users']
        AST -->|Extract| Arg2[Prop: method = 'POST']
    end

    subgraph Backend Generation
        Arg1 & Arg2 -->|Map to| Route["Route: POST /api/users"]
        Route -->|Generate| Controller["Controller: createUser()"]
    end
    
    style AST fill:#ffcc00,color:black
    style Route fill:#00cc66,color:white

🏗️ System Architecture

Our 3-Stage Compilation Process ensures that one frontend codebase can generate backends in multiple languages.

graph LR
    subgraph Input [Stage 1: Analysis]
        A["Frontend Files"] -->|AST Parsing| B("Scanner Engine")
    end
    subgraph Core [Stage 2: Abstraction]
        B -->|Extracts Endpoints| C{"Intermediate JSON Bridge"}
    end
    subgraph Output [Stage 3: Generation]
        C -->|Transpiles| D["Node.js (Express)"]
        C -->|Transpiles| E["Python (FastAPI)"]
        C -->|Transpiles| F["Java (Spring Boot)"]
        C -->|Transpiles| G["C# (.NET Core)"]
    end
    style C fill:#ff9900,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:white

• Stage 1 (Analysis): The engine scans source files (prioritizing active editor context) to build an AST.
• Stage 2 (Abstraction): Extracted logic is converted into a universal JSON Intermediate Representation (IR). This acts as a "Bridge" between languages.
• Stage 3 (Generation): Language-specific compilers read the JSON IR and write production-ready code.

⚡ Real-World Example

See how create-backlist transforms your code instantly.

1️⃣ Input (Your Frontend Code)

Imagine you have this simple API call in your React component:

// user-profile.jsx
axios.post('/api/v1/users', { name: "Ishan", role: "Admin" });

2️⃣ Output (Generated Backend)

Running npx create-backlist automatically detects the route and body, generating:

// Generated Controller (Node.js/Express)
import { Request, Response } from 'express';

export const createUsers = async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
    try {
        // Logic for POST /api/v1/users
        const { name, role } = req.body; 
        res.status(201).json({ message: "Resource created successfully" });
    } catch (error) {
        res.status(500).json({ error: "Internal Server Error" });
    }
};

It also automatically updates routes.ts and creates a Dockerfile!

✨ Key Features & Innovation

Feature	Description
🤖 AST-Powered Engine	Uses advanced static analysis to detect endpoints dynamically. Superior to Regex because it understands code structure.
🌐 Polyglot Support	One Tool, Four Stacks.

✅ Node.js (Production Ready)

🚀 Python, Java, C# (Beta Support) | | 🐳 Auto-Dockerization | Instantly generates optimized Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml for zero-config deployment. | | 🧠 Active Context Analysis | Smartly prioritizes scanning the file currently open in your VS Code editor to capture complex endpoints missed by global scans. | | ⚡ Zero-Config Boilerplate | No manual setup. It scaffolds folders, installs dependencies (package.json, pom.xml, requirements.txt), and starts the server. |

📦 Installation & Usage

No global installation needed. Just run this command inside your existing frontend project's root:

npx create-backlist@latest

🚀 Interactive Walkthrough

The CLI will guide you through 3 Simple Steps:

• Select Stack: Choose between Node.js, Python, Java, or C#.
• Name Backend: Choose a folder name (e.g., my-server).
• Locate Source: Point to your frontend folder (e.g., src).

💡 Technical Comparison: Why AST?

Why did we choose Abstract Syntax Trees over simple Text Search (Regex)?

Method	Can Read Comments?	Understands Variables?	Accuracy
Regex (Others)	❌ No (Might detect commented code)	❌ No	Low
AST (Us)	✅ Yes (Ignores comments)	✅ Yes (Trace variable values)	High

🗺️ Roadmap & Research Goals

This tool is an ongoing research project aimed at automating software infrastructure.

• Phase 1: Core Engine (AST Parsing & Node.js Support) - Completed
• Phase 2: Polyglot Architecture (Python, Java, C# Support & Docker) - Completed
• Phase 3: Intelligent Data Modeling (Auto-generate Prisma/TypeORM schemas from request bodies)
• Phase 4: Security Automation (Auto-generate JWT auth and basic security headers)

🤝 Contributing & Feedback

This is an open-source project built for the developer community. We welcome contributions!

• Found a bug? Open an Issue.
• Want to contribute? Submit a Pull Request.

Give us a ⭐ on GitHub if this saved you time!

Built with ❤️ for builders by W.A.H. ISHAN.

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