usage.md

Usage

Parse Server is meant to be mounted on an Express app. Express is a web framework for Node.js. The fastest way to get started is to clone the Parse Server repo, which at its root contains a sample Express app with the Parse API mounted.

The constructor returns an API object that conforms to an Express Middleware. This object provides the REST endpoints for a Parse app. Create an instance like so:

const api = new ParseServer({
  databaseURI: 'mongodb://your.mongo.uri',
  cloud: './cloud/main.js',
  appId: 'myAppId',
  fileKey: 'myFileKey',
  masterKey: 'mySecretMasterKey',
  push: { ... }, // See the Push wiki page
  filesAdapter: ...,
});

A few of the Parse Server Options are as follows:

• databaseURI: Connection string for your database.
• cloud: Path to your app’s Cloud Code.
• appId: A unique identifier for your app.
• fileKey: A key that specifies a prefix used for file storage. For migrated apps, this is necessary to provide access to files already hosted on Parse.
• masterKey: A key that overrides all permissions. Keep this secret.
• clientKey: The client key for your app. (optional)
• restAPIKey: The REST API key for your app. (optional)
• javascriptKey: The JavaScript key for your app. (optional)
• dotNetKey: The .NET key for your app. (optional)
• push: An object containing push configuration. See Push
• filesAdapter: An object that implements the FilesAdapter interface. For example, the S3 files adapter
• auth: Configure support for 3rd party authentication.
• maxUploadSize: Maximum file upload size. Make sure your server does not restrict max request body size (e.g. nginx.conf client_max_body_size 100m;)

Next, Parse Server can be started with the .start method. This ensures that the database connection is establised, cloud code is registered, and any other startup actions.

In order to access an express middleware for app.use, you can all .app value. This will mount the Parse API at a specified path in your Express app:

const express = require('express');
const ParseServer = require('parse-server').ParseServer;

const app = express();
const api = new ParseServer({ ... });
(async() => {
  await api.start();
})();

// Serve the Parse API at /parse URL prefix
app.use('/parse', api.app);

const port = 1337;
app.listen(port, function() {
  console.log('parse-server-example running on port ' + port + '.');
});

And with that, you will have a Parse Server running on port 1337, serving the Parse API at /parse.