Important
Viewing beta v1 documentation – usable but expect breaking changes. For stable version, see here
Note
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npm install json-server
Create a db.json or db.json5 file
{
"$schema": "./node_modules/json-server/schema.json",
"posts": [
{ "id": "1", "title": "a title", "views": 100 },
{ "id": "2", "title": "another title", "views": 200 }
],
"comments": [
{ "id": "1", "text": "a comment about post 1", "postId": "1" },
{ "id": "2", "text": "another comment about post 1", "postId": "1" }
],
"profile": {
"name": "typicode"
}
}View db.json5 example
{ posts: [ { id: "1", title: "a title", views: 100 }, { id: "2", title: "another title", views: 200 }, ], comments: [ { id: "1", text: "a comment about post 1", postId: "1" }, { id: "2", text: "another comment about post 1", postId: "1" }, ], profile: { name: "typicode", }, }
You can read more about JSON5 format here.
Start JSON Server
npx json-server db.json
This starts the server at http://localhost:3000. You should see:
JSON Server started on PORT :3000
http://localhost:3000
Access your REST API:
curl http://localhost:3000/posts/1
Response:
{
"id": "1",
"title": "a title",
"views": 100
}Run json-server --help for a list of options
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JSON Server supports advanced querying out of the box:
GET /posts?views:gt=100 # Filter by condition GET /posts?_sort=-views # Sort by field (descending) GET /posts?_page=1&_per_page=10 # Pagination GET /posts?_embed=comments # Include relations GET /posts?_where={"or":[...]} # Complex queries
See detailed documentation below for each feature.
For array resources like posts and comments:
GET /posts GET /posts/:id POST /posts PUT /posts/:id PATCH /posts/:id DELETE /posts/:id
For singular object resources like profile:
GET /profile PUT /profile PATCH /profile
Use field:operator=value.
Operators:
- no operator ->
eq(equal) ltless than,lteless than or equalgtgreater than,gtegreater than or equaleqequal,nenot equalinincluded in comma-separated listcontainsstring contains (case-insensitive)startsWithstring starts with (case-insensitive)endsWithstring ends with (case-insensitive)
Examples:
GET /posts?views:gt=100 GET /posts?title:eq=Hello GET /posts?id:in=1,2,3 GET /posts?author.name:eq=typicode GET /posts?title:contains=hello GET /posts?title:startsWith=Hello GET /posts?title:endsWith=world
GET /posts?_sort=title GET /posts?_sort=-views GET /posts?_sort=author.name,-views
GET /posts?_page=1&_per_page=25
Response:
{
"first": 1,
"prev": null,
"next": 2,
"last": 4,
"pages": 4,
"items": 100,
"data": [
{ "id": "1", "title": "...", "views": 100 },
{ "id": "2", "title": "...", "views": 200 }
]
}Notes:
_per_pagedefaults to10if not specified- Invalid
_pageor_per_pagevalues are automatically normalized to valid ranges
GET /posts?_embed=comments GET /comments?_embed=post
_where accepts a JSON object and overrides normal query params when valid.
GET /posts?_where={"or":[{"views":{"gt":100}},{"author":{"name":{"lt":"m"}}}]}
DELETE /posts/1?_dependent=comments
JSON Server automatically serves files from the ./public directory.
To serve additional static directories:
json-server db.json -s ./static json-server db.json -s ./static -s ./node_modules
Static files are served with standard MIME types and can include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other assets.
If you are upgrading from json-server v0.x, note these behavioral changes:
- ID handling:
idis always a string and will be auto-generated if not provided - Pagination: Use
_per_pagewith_pageinstead of the deprecated_limitparameter - Relationships: Use
_embedinstead of_expandfor including related resources - Request delays: Use browser DevTools (Network tab > throttling) instead of the removed
--delayCLI option
New to json-server? These notes are for users migrating from v0. If this is your first time using json-server, you can ignore this section.