create-mlpz-lambda

My opinionated CLI tool for generating AWS Lambda projects with Node.js, providing a modern development experience with TypeScript, testing frameworks, and best practices I've refined over years of serverless development.

Why Use This Template?

You are me. Or, you like the way I structure my Lambda projects and want to save time by using my template. Either way, thanks for checking this out.

Features

• 🚀 Scaffolds Lambda projects
• 🔄 TypeScript or JavaScript
• 📦 Bundle with esbuild or webpack
• 🧪 Testing setup
• 🛠️ AWS Lambda PowerTools included
• 🚢 Deployment configs for various frameworks
• 📝 Linting rules
• 🏗️ A usable project structure

Installation

1# Using pnpm
2pnpm add -g create-mlpz-lambda
3
4# Using npm
5npm install -g create-mlpz-lambda
6
7# Using yarn
8yarn global add create-mlpz-lambda

Usage

1# Interactive mode
2npx create-mlpz-lambda my-lambda-service
3
4# Use my personal defaults (TypeScript, esbuild, Jest, PowerTools, AWS CDK)
5npx create-mlpz-lambda my-lambda-service --yes

Project Options

When running in interactive mode, you'll be prompted for:

• Project name: Name for your Lambda service (also used as directory name)
• Language: TypeScript or JavaScript
• Bundler: esbuild, webpack, or none
• Testing framework: Jest or none
• AWS Lambda PowerTools: Include helpful utilities for Lambda functions
• Deployment framework: AWS CDK, AWS SAM, Serverless Framework, or none

Project Structure

The generated project follows my preferred organization pattern:

1my-lambda-service/
2├── src/
3│   ├── handlers/        # Lambda function handlers
4│   ├── services/        # Business logic
5│   ├── utils/           # Utility functions
6│   └── models/          # Type definitions and models
7├── tests/
8│   ├── unit/            # Unit tests
9│   └── integration/     # Integration tests
10├── .eslintrc.js         # ESLint configuration
11├── .prettierrc          # Prettier configuration
12├── .gitignore           # Git ignore file
13├── package.json         # Project dependencies and scripts
14├── tsconfig.json        # TypeScript configuration (if applicable)
15└── [deployment config]  # Based on selected framework

Development Workflow

After generating your project:

1# Change into project directory
2cd my-lambda-service
3
4# Install dependencies
5pnpm install # or npm install or yarn
6
7# Development with hot reload
8pnpm dev # or npm run dev or yarn dev
9
10# Run tests
11pnpm test # or npm test or yarn test
12
13# Build for production
14pnpm build # or npm run build or yarn build
15
16# Deploy (if using a deployment framework)
17pnpm deploy # or npm run deploy or yarn deploy

Why I Made This

I was tired of repeating the same setup steps for every new Lambda project and wanted to codify my preferred patterns into something reusable. This tool embodies what I believe to be the ideal starting point for modern serverless Node.js applications on AWS.

Contributing

This project uses Conventional Commits for automated versioning and release notes generation. A pre-commit hook is set up to enforce this format.

See COMMIT_CONVENTION.md for a quick reference guide to the commit format.

For more details on the release process, see RELEASING.md.

License

1MIT License
2
3Copyright (c) 2025 Mario Lopez
4
5Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
6of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
7in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
8to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
9copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
10furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
11
12The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
13copies or substantial portions of the Software.
14
15THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
16IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
17FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
18AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
19LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
20OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
21SOFTWARE.