Skip to main content

​
Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your system:
  • Node.js (v18 or higher recommended)
  • npm (comes with Node.js)
  • PostgreSQL (v14 or higher)
  • Git (for cloning the repository)

​
Installation

1

Clone the repository

Clone the Medical Center API repository to your local machine:
git clone <repository-url>
cd api_centro_medico
2

Install dependencies

Install all required npm packages:
npm install
This will install:
  • Express.js for the API server
  • Prisma ORM for database management
  • Supabase client for authentication
  • Additional dependencies (cors, dotenv, jsonwebtoken)
The postinstall script will automatically run prisma generate to create the Prisma Client.
3

Set up environment variables

Create a .env file in the root directory by copying the example file:
cp .env.example .env
Then edit .env with your actual configuration values. See Environment Variables for detailed information.
4

Set up the database

Run Prisma migrations to create the database schema:
npx prisma migrate dev
Optionally, seed the database with initial data:
node prisma/seed.js
See Database Setup for more details.
5

Start the development server

Run the API in development mode with hot-reloading:
npm run dev
The server will start and watch for file changes using nodemon.

​
Verify Installation

Once the server is running, you can verify the installation by checking the API endpoints: 
curl http://localhost:3000/api/especialidades
You should receive a JSON response with the list of medical specialties.

​
Development Scripts

The following npm scripts are available:
  • npm run dev - Start the development server with hot-reloading (uses nodemon)
  • npm start - Start the production server
  • npm run postinstall - Generate Prisma Client (runs automatically after npm install)

​
Project Structure

After setup, your project structure will look like this: 
api_centro_medico/
├── prisma/
│   ├── migrations/     # Database migration files
│   ├── schema.prisma   # Database schema definition
│   └── seed.js         # Database seeding script
├── src/
│   ├── routes/         # API route handlers
│   ├── server.js       # Express server configuration
│   └── ...
├── .env                # Environment variables (not in git)
├── .env.example        # Environment variables template
├── package.json        # Project dependencies
└── vercel.json         # Deployment configuration

​
Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us