1. Create the project

In this chapter you create the project, connect it to the database and run it.

Create it

prea new todo --with-db
cd todo

preá "item" created at preas/item and registered in preas/preas.go
project todo created: cd todo && cp .env.example .env && prea dev

--with-db connects the project to a database and adds an example preá called item. You will write your own preás, so remove it before the first run:

rm -r preas/item

Then open preas/preas.go and delete the two lines that mention it:

import (
	"github.com/prea-framework/prea"
	"github.com/prea-framework/prea/core"

	"todo/preas/health"
	"todo/preas/item"
)

var Modules = []*core.Module{
	health.Module,
	item.Module, 
}

Modules is the list of features your app is made of. Right now, only health is left.

Connect the database

The settings that change from one machine to another, like the database address, live in a .env file. Create it from the template:

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and point the two URLs at your databases:

PREA_PROFILE=dev
DATABASE_URL='postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/todo?sslmode=disable'
TEST_DATABASE_URL='postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/todo_test?sslmode=disable'

PREA_PROFILE=dev picks the profile, the set of settings for your machine. You'll meet the others in chapter 7.

Run it

prea dev

level=INFO msg="prea: config loaded" profile=dev
level=INFO msg="database: the models and the database are in sync"
level=INFO msg="database: no migrations in migrations"
level=INFO msg="prea: listening" addr=[::]:8000

The app loaded the dev settings, connected to the database, found nothing to do there yet and started listening. In another terminal:

curl localhost:8000/health

{
    "code": 1,
    "data": {
        "status": "ok"
    }
}

Leave prea dev running. It watches your files, and every time you save, it rebuilds and restarts the app.

Look around

todo/
├── main.go            starts the app; you won't need to touch it
├── preas/
│   ├── preas.go       the list of preás, middlewares and protections
│   └── health/        the GET /health route
├── config/            the settings: a base file and one per profile
├── migrations/        empty for now
├── middleware/        empty for now
└── tests/             tests of the whole app

Project structure describes every file, if you are curious.

What you learned

• prea new creates a working project, and prea dev runs it and restarts it on every change.
• An app is a list of preás, in preas/preas.go.
• Settings that change per machine go in .env.

Next: your first preá →