# Express

{% hint style="info" %}
Make sure you have installed AdminJS packages described in [Getting started](/installation/getting-started.md) article.

```bash
$ yarn add adminjs @adminjs/express
```

{% endhint %}

To setup AdminJS panel with Express.js you need to have `express` installed and required peer dependencies:

```bash
$ yarn add express tslib express-formidable express-session
```

Afterwards, follow one of the examples below.

### Simple

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Javascript" %}
{% code title="app.js" %}

```javascript
import AdminJS from 'adminjs'
import AdminJSExpress from '@adminjs/express'
import express from 'express'

const PORT = 3000

const start = async () => {
  const app = express()

  const admin = new AdminJS({})

  const adminRouter = AdminJSExpress.buildRouter(admin)
  app.use(admin.options.rootPath, adminRouter)

  app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`AdminJS started on http://localhost:${PORT}${admin.options.rootPath}`)
  })
}

start()
```

{% endcode %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Typescript" %}
Install Express types:

```bash
$ yarn add -D @types/express
```

{% code title="app.ts" %}

```typescript
import AdminJS from 'adminjs'
import AdminJSExpress from '@adminjs/express'
import express from 'express'

const PORT = 3000

const start = async () => {
  const app = express()

  const admin = new AdminJS({})

  const adminRouter = AdminJSExpress.buildRouter(admin)
  app.use(admin.options.rootPath, adminRouter)

  app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`AdminJS started on http://localhost:${PORT}${admin.options.rootPath}`)
  })
}

start()
```

{% endcode %}

\
Now you can start your AdminJS application.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

### Authenticated

To add authentication, you must use `AdminJSExpress.buildAuthenticatedRouter` instead of `AdminJSExpress.buildRouter`. Additionally, we must set up a session store to keep our session information. In the example below we will store our session in a Postgres table, we will also use `connect-pg-simple` to allow our session store to connect to the database.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Javascript" %}
Install additional dependencies:

```bash
$ yarn add connect-pg-simple
```

{% code title="app.js" %}

```javascript
import AdminJS from 'adminjs'
import AdminJSExpress from '@adminjs/express'
import express from 'express'
import Connect from 'connect-pg-simple'
import session from 'express-session'

const PORT = 3000

const DEFAULT_ADMIN = {
  email: 'admin@example.com',
  password: 'password',
}

const authenticate = async (email, password) => {
  if (email === DEFAULT_ADMIN.email && password === DEFAULT_ADMIN.password) {
    return Promise.resolve(DEFAULT_ADMIN)
  }
  return null
}

const start = async () => {
  const app = express()

  const admin = new AdminJS({})

  const ConnectSession = Connect(session)
  const sessionStore = new ConnectSession({
    conObject: {
      connectionString: 'postgres://adminjs:@localhost:5432/adminjs',
      ssl: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
    },
    tableName: 'session',
    createTableIfMissing: true,
  })

  const adminRouter = AdminJSExpress.buildAuthenticatedRouter(
    admin,
    {
      authenticate,
      cookieName: 'adminjs',
      cookiePassword: 'sessionsecret',
    },
    null,
    {
      store: sessionStore,
      resave: true,
      saveUninitialized: true,
      secret: 'sessionsecret',
      cookie: {
        httpOnly: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
        secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
      },
      name: 'adminjs',
    }
  )
  app.use(admin.options.rootPath, adminRouter)

  app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`AdminJS started on http://localhost:${PORT}${admin.options.rootPath}`)
  })
}

start()
```

{% endcode %}

As you may have noticed, the `authenticate` function compares credentials you submit in the form with a hardcoded `DEFAULT_ADMIN` object. In your case, you might want to modify `authenticate` function's logic to compare form credentials against real database objects.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you plan to copy-paste this example, make sure you set the database connection string to a functional one.
{% endhint %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Typescript" %}
Install additional dependencies:

```bash
$ yarn add connect-pg-simple
$ yarn add -D @types/connect-pg-simple @types/express-session @types/express
```

{% code title="app.ts" %}

```typescript
import AdminJS from 'adminjs'
import AdminJSExpress from '@adminjs/express'
import express from 'express'
import Connect from 'connect-pg-simple'
import session from 'express-session'

const PORT = 3000

const DEFAULT_ADMIN = {
  email: 'admin@example.com',
  password: 'password',
}

const authenticate = async (email: string, password: string) => {
  if (email === DEFAULT_ADMIN.email && password === DEFAULT_ADMIN.password) {
    return Promise.resolve(DEFAULT_ADMIN)
  }
  return null
}

const start = async () => {
  const app = express()

  const admin = new AdminJS({})

  const ConnectSession = Connect(session)
  const sessionStore = new ConnectSession({
    conObject: {
      connectionString: 'postgres://adminjs:@localhost:5432/adminjs',
      ssl: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
    },
    tableName: 'session',
    createTableIfMissing: true,
  })

  const adminRouter = AdminJSExpress.buildAuthenticatedRouter(
    admin,
    {
      authenticate,
      cookieName: 'adminjs',
      cookiePassword: 'sessionsecret',
    },
    null,
    {
      store: sessionStore,
      resave: true,
      saveUninitialized: true,
      secret: 'sessionsecret',
      cookie: {
        httpOnly: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
        secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
      },
      name: 'adminjs',
    }
  )
  app.use(admin.options.rootPath, adminRouter)

  app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`AdminJS started on http://localhost:${PORT}${admin.options.rootPath}`)
  })
}

start()
```

{% endcode %}

As you may have noticed, the `authenticate` function compares credentials you submit in the form with a hardcoded `DEFAULT_ADMIN` object. In your case, you might want to modify `authenticate` function's logic to compare form credentials against real database objects.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you plan to copy-paste this example, make sure you set the database connection string to a functional one.
{% endhint %}
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

{% hint style="info" %}
For a more complex example, please visit our [example app](https://github.com/SoftwareBrothers/adminjs-example-app/blob/master/src/servers/express/index.ts).
{% endhint %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.adminjs.co/installation/plugins/express.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.