swagger-ui-express

What is swagger-ui-express?

The swagger-ui-express npm package is used to serve auto-generated swagger-ui generated API docs from express, based on a swagger.json file. The package allows you to serve the Swagger UI bound to your Swagger document. This is helpful for creating API documentation that can be read and tested interactively via a browser.

What are swagger-ui-express's main functionalities?

Serve API Documentation

This feature serves the API documentation on a specified express route. The `swagger.json` contains the API definitions.

const swaggerUi = require('swagger-ui-express');
const swaggerDocument = require('./swagger.json');

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument));

Custom CSS

This feature allows you to apply custom CSS to the Swagger UI to modify its appearance according to your preferences.

const options = {
customCss: '.swagger-ui .topbar { display: none }'
};
app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument, options));

Custom Site Title

This feature allows you to set a custom title for the API documentation page.

const options = {
customSiteTitle: 'My API Docs'
};
app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument, options));

Serve Swagger UI with Custom API Docs

This feature allows you to load your Swagger document from a YAML file instead of a JSON file, which some developers find more readable and easier to maintain.

const swaggerUi = require('swagger-ui-express');
const YAML = require('yamljs');
const swaggerDocument = YAML.load('./swagger.yaml');

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument));

Other packages similar to swagger-ui-express

redoc-express

Redoc-express is similar to swagger-ui-express in that it serves API documentation using the express framework. However, it uses Redoc to generate the documentation, which offers a different look and feel and some different features compared to Swagger UI.

fastify-swagger

Fastify-swagger is designed for the Fastify framework rather than Express. It provides similar functionality to swagger-ui-express but is tailored to work with Fastify's unique plugin architecture.

hapi-swagger

Hapi-swagger is an npm package that provides Swagger UI integration for the Hapi.js framework. It is similar to swagger-ui-express but is specifically built to work within the Hapi ecosystem.

README

Swagger UI Express

Adds middleware to your express app to serve the Swagger UI bound to your Swagger document. This acts as living documentation for your API hosted from within your app.

Usage

In app's package.json

"swagger-ui-express": "latest" // or desired version

Express setup app.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const swaggerUi = require('swagger-ui-express');
const swaggerDocument = require('./swagger.json');

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument));

Open http://<app_host>:<app_port>/api-docs in your browser to view the documentation.

If you want to set up routing based on the swagger document checkout swagger-express-router

swagger-jsdoc

If you are using swagger-jsdoc simply pass the swaggerSpec into the setup function:

// Initialize swagger-jsdoc -> returns validated swagger spec in json format
const swaggerSpec = swaggerJSDoc(options);

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerSpec));

Swagger Explorer

By default the Swagger Explorer bar is hidden, to display it pass true as the second parameter to the setup function:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const swaggerUi = require('swagger-ui-express');
const swaggerDocument = require('./swagger.json');

var showExplorer = true;

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument, showExplorer));

Custom swagger options

To pass custom options e.g. validatorUrl, to the SwaggerUi client pass an object as the third parameter:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const swaggerUi = require('swagger-ui-express');
const swaggerDocument = require('./swagger.json');

var showExplorer = true;
var options = {
	validatorUrl : null
};

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument, showExplorer, options));

Custom CSS styles

To customize the style of the swagger page, you can pass custom CSS as the fourth parameter.

E.g. to hide the swagger header:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const swaggerUi = require('swagger-ui-express');
const swaggerDocument = require('./swagger.json');

var showExplorer = false;
var options = {};
var customCss = '#header { display: none }';

app.use('/api-docs', swaggerUi.serve, swaggerUi.setup(swaggerDocument, showExplorer, options, customCss));

Requirements

• Node v0.10.32 or above
• Express 4 or above

Testing

Install phantom npm install npm test