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Sails.js Cheatsheet

A quick reference guide for Sails.js, covering core concepts, commands, configurations, and best practices for building scalable Node.js applications.

Core Concepts & Setup

Installation & Project Setup

Install Sails globally:

npm install -g sails

Create a new Sails project:

sails new my-app

Lift Sails server:

sails lift

Generate a model:

sails generate model User

Generate a controller:

sails generate controller UserController

Generate an API (model and controller):

sails generate api Product

Key Concepts

Models

Represent the data structure. Define attributes and their types (e.g., String, Number, Boolean).

Controllers

Handle incoming requests and define actions to be performed.

Views

Templates rendered to the client. Supports various templating engines (e.g., EJS, Jade).

Routes

Map URLs to controllers and actions. Can be configured in config/routes.js.

Policies

Middleware functions that run before actions. Used for authentication, authorization, etc.

Services

Reusable logic. Can be injected into controllers, models, or other services.

Models & ORM

Model Definition

Models are defined in api/models/. Each file represents a model.

Example: api/models/User.js

module.exports = {
  attributes: {
    firstName: { type: 'string', required: true },
    lastName: { type: 'string' },
    email: { type: 'string', required: true, unique: true },
    age: { type: 'number', defaultsTo: 18 }
  }
};

Attribute Types: string, number, boolean, date, json, array, ref (reference to another model)

Waterline ORM

Create

 
User.create({ firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Doe', email: '[email protected]' })
  .then(user => console.log(user))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

Find

 
User.find({ lastName: 'Doe' })
  .then(users => console.log(users))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

Update

 
User.update({ email: '[email protected]' }, { lastName: 'Smith' })
  .then(users => console.log(users))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

Destroy

 
User.destroy({ email: '[email protected]' })
  .then(() => console.log('User deleted'))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

findOne

 
User.findOne({ id: 1 })
  .then(user => console.log(user))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

count

 
User.count()
  .then(count => console.log('User count: ', count))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

Controllers & Routing

Controller Actions

Controllers are defined in api/controllers/. Each file represents a controller.

Example: api/controllers/UserController.js

module.exports = {
  index: function(req, res) {
    User.find().then(users => {
      return res.view('user/index', { users: users });
    }).catch(err => res.serverError(err));
  },

  create: function(req, res) {
    User.create(req.body).then(user => {
      return res.redirect('/user');
    }).catch(err => res.serverError(err));
  }
};

Each function within module.exports is an action.

Routing

Configuration

Routes are configured in config/routes.js.

Example - Explicit Route

 
'/users': { controller: 'UserController', action: 'index' }

Example - Shortcut Route

 
'get /users': 'UserController.index'

Example - RESTful Route

Sails automatically generates RESTful routes for APIs. For example, GET /user maps to UserController.find.

Custom Routes

You can also define custom routes with parameters:

'/user/:id': { controller: 'UserController', action: 'show' }

Request and Response Objects

req (Request)

Represents the HTTP request and has properties like req.params, req.body, req.query, req.headers.

res (Response)

Represents the HTTP response and has methods like res.ok(), res.view(), res.redirect(), res.json(), res.serverError().

Views & Assets

Views

Views are located in views/. Sails uses EJS (Embedded JavaScript) by default, but you can configure other templating engines.

Example: views/user/index.ejs

<h1>Users</h1>
<ul>
  <% users.forEach(function(user) { %>
    <li><%= user.firstName %> <%= user.lastName %></li>
  <% }); %>
</ul>

Use res.view() in your controller to render a view:

res.view('user/index', { users: users });

Assets

Location

Assets (CSS, JavaScript, images) are stored in the assets/ directory.

Pipeline

Sails uses Grunt to manage and pipeline assets. Configure in tasks/pipeline.js.

Linking

Link assets in your views using <link> and <script> tags. Sails provides helpers to automatically include assets.

Example

 
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/importer.css">
<script src="/js/dependencies/sails.io.js"></script>

Policies

Policies are middleware functions that run before your controller actions. They are located in api/policies/.

Example: api/policies/isAuthenticated.js

module.exports = function(req, res, next) {
  if (req.session.user) {
    return next();
  }
  return res.forbidden('You are not allowed to perform this action.');
};

Apply policies to controllers/actions in config/policies.js.