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Version: 6.8.0

Getting Started

express-validator is a set of express.js middlewares that wraps validator.js validator and sanitizer functions.

Installation

Install it using npm (make sure that you have Node.js 8 or newer):

npm install --save express-validator

Basic guide

It's recommended that you have basic knowledge of the express.js module before you go on with this guide.

Let's get started by writing a basic route to create a user in the database:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.use(express.json());
app.post('/user', (req, res) => {
User.create({
username: req.body.username,
password: req.body.password
}).then(user => res.json(user));
});

Then, you'll want to make sure that you validate the input and report any errors before creating the user:

// ...rest of the initial code omitted for simplicity.
const { body, validationResult } = require('express-validator');

app.post('/user', [
// username must be an email
body('username').isEmail(),
// password must be at least 5 chars long
body('password').isLength({ min: 5 })
], (req, res) => {
// Finds the validation errors in this request and wraps them in an object with handy functions
const errors = validationResult(req);
if (!errors.isEmpty()) {
return res.status(400).json({ errors: errors.array() });
}

User.create({
username: req.body.username,
password: req.body.password
}).then(user => res.json(user));
});

Voila! Now, whenever a request that includes invalid username or password fields is submitted, your server will respond like this:

{
"errors": [{
"location": "body",
"msg": "Invalid value",
"param": "username"
}]
}

For all the available validators in express-validator (just like its options), take a look at validator.js docs here.

What's next

This completes the basic guide on getting started with express-validator.
You might want to continue reading about some of the more advanced features available: