Agent skill

nestjs-expert

Creates and configures NestJS modules, controllers, services, DTOs, guards, and interceptors for enterprise-grade TypeScript backend applications. Use when building NestJS REST APIs or GraphQL services, implementing dependency injection, scaffolding modular architecture, adding JWT/Passport authentication, integrating TypeORM or Prisma, or working with .module.ts, .controller.ts, and .service.ts files. Invoke for guards, interceptors, pipes, validation, Swagger documentation, and unit/E2E testing in NestJS projects.

Stars 7,481
Forks 528

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/tree/main/skills/nestjs-expert

Metadata

Additional technical details for this skill

role
specialist
scope
implementation
domain
backend
version
1.1.0
triggers
NestJS, Nest, Node.js backend, TypeScript backend, dependency injection, controller, service, module, guard, interceptor
output format
code
related skills
fullstack-guardian, test-master, devops-engineer

SKILL.md

NestJS Expert

Senior NestJS specialist with deep expertise in enterprise-grade, scalable TypeScript backend applications.

Core Workflow

  1. Analyze requirements — Identify modules, endpoints, entities, and relationships
  2. Design structure — Plan module organization and inter-module dependencies
  3. Implement — Create modules, services, and controllers with proper DI wiring
  4. Secure — Add guards, validation pipes, and authentication
  5. Verify — Run npm run lint, npm run test, and confirm DI graph with nest info
  6. Test — Write unit tests for services and E2E tests for controllers

Reference Guide

Load detailed guidance based on context:

Topic Reference Load When
Controllers references/controllers-routing.md Creating controllers, routing, Swagger docs
Services references/services-di.md Services, dependency injection, providers
DTOs references/dtos-validation.md Validation, class-validator, DTOs
Authentication references/authentication.md JWT, Passport, guards, authorization
Testing references/testing-patterns.md Unit tests, E2E tests, mocking
Express Migration references/migration-from-express.md Migrating from Express.js to NestJS

Code Examples

Controller with DTO Validation and Swagger

typescript
// create-user.dto.ts
import { IsEmail, IsString, MinLength } from 'class-validator';
import { ApiProperty } from '@nestjs/swagger';

export class CreateUserDto {
  @ApiProperty({ example: 'user@example.com' })
  @IsEmail()
  email: string;

  @ApiProperty({ example: 'strongPassword123', minLength: 8 })
  @IsString()
  @MinLength(8)
  password: string;
}

// users.controller.ts
import { Body, Controller, Post, HttpCode, HttpStatus } from '@nestjs/common';
import { ApiCreatedResponse, ApiTags } from '@nestjs/swagger';
import { UsersService } from './users.service';
import { CreateUserDto } from './dto/create-user.dto';

@ApiTags('users')
@Controller('users')
export class UsersController {
  constructor(private readonly usersService: UsersService) {}

  @Post()
  @HttpCode(HttpStatus.CREATED)
  @ApiCreatedResponse({ description: 'User created successfully.' })
  create(@Body() createUserDto: CreateUserDto) {
    return this.usersService.create(createUserDto);
  }
}

Service with Dependency Injection and Error Handling

typescript
// users.service.ts
import { Injectable, ConflictException, NotFoundException } from '@nestjs/common';
import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
import { Repository } from 'typeorm';
import { User } from './entities/user.entity';
import { CreateUserDto } from './dto/create-user.dto';

@Injectable()
export class UsersService {
  constructor(
    @InjectRepository(User)
    private readonly usersRepository: Repository<User>,
  ) {}

  async create(createUserDto: CreateUserDto): Promise<User> {
    const existing = await this.usersRepository.findOneBy({ email: createUserDto.email });
    if (existing) {
      throw new ConflictException('Email already registered');
    }
    const user = this.usersRepository.create(createUserDto);
    return this.usersRepository.save(user);
  }

  async findOne(id: number): Promise<User> {
    const user = await this.usersRepository.findOneBy({ id });
    if (!user) {
      throw new NotFoundException(`User #${id} not found`);
    }
    return user;
  }
}

Module Definition

typescript
// users.module.ts
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { TypeOrmModule } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
import { UsersController } from './users.controller';
import { UsersService } from './users.service';
import { User } from './entities/user.entity';

@Module({
  imports: [TypeOrmModule.forFeature([User])],
  controllers: [UsersController],
  providers: [UsersService],
  exports: [UsersService], // export only when other modules need this service
})
export class UsersModule {}

Unit Test for Service

typescript
// users.service.spec.ts
import { Test, TestingModule } from '@nestjs/testing';
import { getRepositoryToken } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
import { ConflictException } from '@nestjs/common';
import { UsersService } from './users.service';
import { User } from './entities/user.entity';

const mockRepo = {
  findOneBy: jest.fn(),
  create: jest.fn(),
  save: jest.fn(),
};

describe('UsersService', () => {
  let service: UsersService;

  beforeEach(async () => {
    const module: TestingModule = await Test.createTestingModule({
      providers: [
        UsersService,
        { provide: getRepositoryToken(User), useValue: mockRepo },
      ],
    }).compile();
    service = module.get<UsersService>(UsersService);
    jest.clearAllMocks();
  });

  it('throws ConflictException when email already exists', async () => {
    mockRepo.findOneBy.mockResolvedValue({ id: 1, email: 'user@example.com' });
    await expect(
      service.create({ email: 'user@example.com', password: 'pass1234' }),
    ).rejects.toThrow(ConflictException);
  });
});

Constraints

MUST DO

  • Use @Injectable() and constructor injection for all services — never instantiate services with new
  • Validate all inputs with class-validator decorators on DTOs and enable ValidationPipe globally
  • Use DTOs for all request/response bodies; never pass raw req.body to services
  • Throw typed HTTP exceptions (NotFoundException, ConflictException, etc.) in services
  • Document all endpoints with @ApiTags, @ApiOperation, and response decorators
  • Write unit tests for every service method using Test.createTestingModule
  • Store all config values via ConfigModule and process.env; never hardcode them

MUST NOT DO

  • Expose passwords, secrets, or internal stack traces in responses
  • Accept unvalidated user input — always apply ValidationPipe
  • Use any type unless absolutely necessary and documented
  • Create circular dependencies between modules — use forwardRef() only as a last resort
  • Hardcode hostnames, ports, or credentials in source files
  • Skip error handling in service methods

Output Templates

When implementing a NestJS feature, provide in this order:

  1. Module definition (.module.ts)
  2. Controller with Swagger decorators (.controller.ts)
  3. Service with typed error handling (.service.ts)
  4. DTOs with class-validator decorators (dto/*.dto.ts)
  5. Unit tests for service methods (*.service.spec.ts)

Knowledge Reference

NestJS, TypeScript, TypeORM, Prisma, Passport, JWT, class-validator, class-transformer, Swagger/OpenAPI, Jest, Supertest, Guards, Interceptors, Pipes, Filters

Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.

Jeffallan/claude-skills

graphql-architect

Use when designing GraphQL schemas, implementing Apollo Federation, or building real-time subscriptions. Invoke for schema design, resolvers with DataLoader, query optimization, federation directives.

7,481 528
Explore
Jeffallan/claude-skills

dotnet-core-expert

Use when building .NET 8 applications with minimal APIs, clean architecture, or cloud-native microservices. Invoke for Entity Framework Core, CQRS with MediatR, JWT authentication, AOT compilation.

7,481 528
Explore
Jeffallan/claude-skills

kubernetes-specialist

Use when deploying or managing Kubernetes workloads. Invoke to create deployment manifests, configure pod security policies, set up service accounts, define network isolation rules, debug pod crashes, analyze resource limits, inspect container logs, or right-size workloads. Use for Helm charts, RBAC policies, NetworkPolicies, storage configuration, performance optimization, GitOps pipelines, and multi-cluster management.

7,481 528
Explore
Jeffallan/claude-skills

the-fool

Use when challenging ideas, plans, decisions, or proposals using structured critical reasoning. Invoke to play devil's advocate, run a pre-mortem, red team, or audit evidence and assumptions.

7,481 528
Explore
Jeffallan/claude-skills

spec-miner

Reverse-engineering specialist that extracts specifications from existing codebases. Use when working with legacy or undocumented systems, inherited projects, or old codebases with no documentation. Invoke to map code dependencies, generate API documentation from source, identify undocumented business logic, figure out what code does, or create architecture documentation from implementation. Trigger phrases: reverse engineer, old codebase, no docs, no documentation, figure out how this works, inherited project, legacy analysis, code archaeology, undocumented features.

7,481 528
Explore
Jeffallan/claude-skills

secure-code-guardian

Use when implementing authentication/authorization, securing user input, or preventing OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities — including custom security implementations such as hashing passwords with bcrypt/argon2, sanitizing SQL queries with parameterized statements, configuring CORS/CSP headers, validating input with Zod, and setting up JWT tokens. Invoke for authentication, authorization, input validation, encryption, OWASP Top 10 prevention, secure session management, and security hardening. For pre-built OAuth/SSO integrations or standalone security audits, consider a more specialized skill.

7,481 528
Explore

Didn't find tool you were looking for?

Be as detailed as possible for better results