Build Your First CLI & API in Just 7 Days
Get my free 7-day email course for building a CLI & API app with persistence, configuration, and validation in Node.js
- Ship a CLI with flags and env
- Ship an API with Express
- Discover the layered architecture
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What you'll build
In 7 days, you'll build LB Notes β a small Node.js backend app made of:
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A CLI tool you can run from your terminal
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A REST API you can call with cURL
Both using the same storage layer, so you're not building two separate toys in isolation, but a complementary backend system.
By the end, you'll have a project that feels like real backend work with clean structure and predictable errors: input β validation β data β output.
The daily program
Each day for 7 days, you'll recieve an email with a link to one of the following lessons.
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Day 1 β Set Up the Project
In this day, you'll set up the LBNotes project and ship a working `lb_notes --help` CLI command.
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Day 2 β Build a Real CLI Interface
In this day, you'll add the `lb_notes add` and `lb_notes list` CLI subcommands with basic input validation and clear errors.
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Day 3 β Persist Data With Files
In this day, you'll persist notes by saving them to disk in a JSON file and loading them back.
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Day 4 β Load Configuration & Environment
In this day, you'll make LBNotes configurable using a `.env` file and environment variables.
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Day 5 β Write Your First Express API
In this day, you'll expose your notes through an Express API with a `GET /notes` endpoint.
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Day 6 β Handle HTTP Requests With Middlewares
In this day, you'll add note creation to the API with `POST /note` and validate requests using middleware.
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Day 7 β Refactor With a Layered Structure
In this day, you'll refactor the API into a simple layered structure to keep the code clean as it grows.
Who is this for?
This 7-day email course is perfect for you if...
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You are already familiar with JavaScript
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You understand the fundamentals of Node.js
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You want a quick introduction to backend development
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You want to know what a CLI or an API in Node.js looks like
Why learn from me?
Hi, I'm Razvan π β Senior Node.js backend engineer, technical writer, and founder of Learn Backend.
It's no secret: learning backend development on your own is extremely hard.
Before becoming a senior Node.js engineer with now over 10 years of experience, I also failed at it for years... and probably for the same reasons you're struggling with it right now.
The internet is full of content, but very little direction. No one tells you what to learn first, what to ignore, or how it all fits together.
This is why I created this 7-day starter kit: a result-driven email course designed to give you a fast overview of how backend pieces logically fit together.
So if you're tired of guessing, this content was built for you.