Per-Resource Route Files

Each resource gets its own routes file. Standard Express convention for production apps.

3 min read Level 1/5 #express#structure#routing

What you'll learn

Organize routes by resource
Compose them into the app
Keep route files thin

The standard Express convention: one file per resource, each exporting a Router. The root app stitches them together.

A Typical Tree

src/routes/
├── users.js
├── posts.js
├── comments.js
├── auth.js
└── admin.js

A Routes File

// src/routes/posts.js
import { Router } from "express";
import * as posts from "../controllers/posts.js";

const r = Router();

r.get("/",           posts.list);
r.post("/",          posts.create);
r.get("/:id",        posts.get);
r.patch("/:id",      posts.update);
r.delete("/:id",     posts.remove);
r.get("/:id/likes",  posts.listLikes);
r.post("/:id/likes", posts.like);

export default r;

A routes file should be scannable. You can see every URL this resource exposes at a glance.

The Glue

// src/app.js
import express from "express";
import users from "./routes/users.js";
import posts from "./routes/posts.js";
import comments from "./routes/comments.js";
import auth from "./routes/auth.js";

export function buildApp() {
  const app = express();
  app.use(express.json());

  app.use("/api/auth",     auth);
  app.use("/api/users",    users);
  app.use("/api/posts",    posts);
  app.use("/api/comments", comments);

  return app;
}

Adding a new resource: create the file, mount it. Two-line diff in app.js.

Don’t Put Logic In Route Files

A route file should be just routing. No DB calls, no validation, no business logic. That goes in controllers and services (covered in the REST chapter).

A route file you can read in 10 seconds tells you the resource’s shape. A route file with inline logic tells you nothing fast.

Index-File Aggregation

For very large apps, an index.js per resource group:

src/routes/
├── index.js          ← re-exports
├── users.js
├── posts.js
└── admin/
    ├── index.js
    ├── reports.js
    └── users.js

// src/routes/index.js
export { default as users } from "./users.js";
export { default as posts } from "./posts.js";
export { default as admin } from "./admin/index.js";

Reduces import noise in app.js. Optional — fine to skip until needed.

Nested Routes →