Kraken

A Node.js web application framework.

The Kraken Suite

KrakenJS is part of the Kraken Suite. If you'd like to find out more about the other modules, please visit krakenjs.com

Getting Started

To create a new project:

1. Install Yeoman and the Kraken Generator: npm install -g yo generator-kraken
2. Generate a Kraken project: yo kraken
3. Go to your project directory and start your project. By default, it will listen on port 8000: npm start

Directory structure

• /config - Application and middleware configuration
• /controllers - Controllers
• /lib - Custom developer libraries and other code
• /locales - Local-based content
• /models - Models
• /public - Web resources that are publicly available
• /public/templates - Server and browser-side templates
• /tests - Unit and functional test cases

Configuration

Configuration is stored in JSON format. Each settings file can be overridden in development mode by creating a -development version, e.g. app-development.json.

• /config/app.json - Application specific settings
• /config/middleware.json - Custom middleware specfic settings

app.json values:

• host - The application host. Default: localhost
• port - The application port to bind to. Default: 8000
• i18n
  • fallback - Locale fallback to use if content files aren't found. Default: "en-US"
  • contentPath - Root path to content files. Default: "path:./locales"
• routes
  • routePath - The directory to scan for routes: Default: "path:./controllers"
• express
  • trust proxy Enables reverse proxy support, disabled by default
  • jsonp callback name Changes the default callback name of ?callback=
  • json replacer JSON replacer callback, null by default
  • json spaces JSON response spaces for formatting, defaults to 2 in development, 0 in production
  • case sensitive routing Enable case sensitivity, disabled by default, treating "/Foo" and "/foo" as the same
  • strict routing Enable strict routing, by default "/foo" and "/foo/" are treated the same by the router
  • view cache Enables view template compilation caching, enabled in production by default
  • view engine The default engine extension to use when omitted
  • views The view directory path, defaulting to "./views"
• view engines - A map of view engines to register for the given app.
  • {extension} - View engine identifier for use by express.
    • module - The node module used to support this view engine.
    • settings - Any configuration settings needed by the identified module.
• ssl Also see tls.createServer http://nodejs.org/api/tls.html#tls_tls_createserver_options_secureconnectionlistener
  • pfx - A string or Buffer containing the private key, certificate and CA certs of the server in PFX or PKCS12 format.
  • key - A string or Buffer containing the private key of the server in PEM format. (Required)
  • passphrase - A string of passphrase for the private key or pfx.
  • cert - A string or Buffer containing the certificate key of the server in PEM format. (Required)
  • ca - An array of strings or Buffers of trusted certificates in PEM format.
  • crl - Either a string or list of strings of PEM encoded CRLs (Certificate Revocation List)
  • ciphers - A string describing the ciphers to use or exclude. Default: AES128-GCM-SHA256:RC4:HIGH:!MD5:!aNULL:!EDH.
  • handshakeTimeout - Abort the connection if the SSL/TLS handshake does not finish in this many milliseconds. The default is 120 seconds.
  • honorCipherOrder - When choosing a cipher, use the server's preferences instead of the client preferences.
  • requestCert - If true the server will request a certificate from clients that connect and attempt to verify that certificate. Default: false.
  • rejectUnauthorized - If true the server will reject any connection which is not authorized with the list of supplied CAs. This option only has an effect if requestCert is true. Default: false.
  • NPNProtocols - An array or Buffer of possible NPN protocols. (Protocols should be ordered by their priority).
  • SNICallback - A function that will be called if client supports SNI TLS extension. Only one argument will be passed to it: servername. Should return SecureContext instance.
  • sessionIdContext - A string containing a opaque identifier for session resumption.
  • secureProtocol - The SSL method to use.
  • slabBufferSize - Size of slab buffer used by all tls servers and clients. Default: 10 * 1024 * 1024. Note: only change this if you know what you are doing.
  • clientRenegotiationLimit - Renegotiation limit, default is 3. Note: only change this if you know what you are doing.
  • clientRenegotiationWindow - Renegotiation window in seconds, default is 10 minutes. Note: only change this if you know what you are doing.

middleware.json values:

• middleware

  • appsec

    • csrf - Should CSRF tokens be required. Default: true
    • csp - Should CSP headers be sent. Default: false
      • reportOnly - Report only enabled.
      • report-uri - URI the browser should send the report to.
      • policy - Key value object of the CSP policy.
    • p3p - Setting for P3P header. Default: false
    • xframe - Setting for XFRAME headers. Default: "SAMEORIGIN"

  • compiler

    • dust - Where the dev-time compiler should look for dust files. Default: "templates"
    • less - Where the dev-time compiler should look for LESS files. Default: "css"

  • errorPages

    • 404 - Template to load when a file is not found. Default: undefined
    • 500 - Template to load when a server error occurs. Default: undefined

  • session

    • module - Connect-based module name to require for sessions. Default: false
    • secret - Secret used to hash your cookie. Default: "keyboard cat"
    • cookie
      • path - Path to set on the cookie. Default: "/"
      • httpOnly - HTTP only setting for the cookie. Default: true
      • maxAge - Maximum age the cookie should exist. Default: null

  • static

    • srcRoot - Where the compiler should look for files. Default: "path:./public"
    • rootPath - Where the compiler should put compiled files. Default: "path:./.build"

Customization

Application Life-cycle

You can customize your application's life-cycle by adding methods to the app delegate in the index.js file.

• app.configure(config, next) - Async method run on startup. next must be called to continue.
• app.requestStart(server) - Run before most express middleware has been registered.
• app.requestBeforeRoute(server) - Run before any routes have been added.
• app.requestAfterRoute(server) - Run after all routes have been added.

Example:

app.requestBeforeRoute = function (server) {
    // Register passport-js middleware
    server.use(passport.initialize());
    server.use(passport.session());
};

Routes

To add a route you need to create a new file in /controllers that exports a function which accepts an express server. From there it's all express!

Example:

module.exports = function (server) {
    server.get('/path', function (req, res) {
    	// Awesome code!
    });
};

Content

Format

Content is in key value format. Named variables may be inserted into content strings with {bracket} syntax using the name of the value in your data model.

Example:

myPage.title=Welcome to my site!
myPage.greeting=Hello, {user}. How are you?

File Structure

Content is loaded from country and language subdirectories inside /locales based on the user locale. Convention is used to automatically determine which content file to load: the base template file name and path are looked for in the locales folder.

Example:

content/
  US/
    en/
      index.properties
      myDir/
         page.properties

public/
  templates/
    index.dust
    myDir/
      page.dust

Builds

A Grunt task is used for builds. To prepare your code for production run grunt build which will create new files in the .build directory. This task must be done before running your app in production mode.

Contributing to the Kraken Suite

Bugs and new features should be submitted using Github issues. Please include with a detailed description and the expected behaviour. If you would like to submit a change yourself do the following steps.

1. Fork it.
2. Create a branch (git checkout -b fix-for-that-thing)
3. Commit a failing test (git commit -am "adds a failing test to demonstrate that thing")
4. Commit a fix that makes the test pass (git commit -am "fixes that thing")
5. Push to the branch (git push origin fix-for-that-thing)
6. Open a Pull Request

Please keep your branch up to date by rebasing upstream changes from master.

FAQ

Why use Kraken?

Kraken is the glue to your open source. It sits on top of grunt and express, but offers you a more robust feature set in a web application framework. The benefits include support for externalized content, localization, compile-on-the-fly editing, environment-based configuration, baked-in application security and more.

How do I run in production mode?

Build your project first and then export NODE_ENV=production before running the app.