feat(docker): rename dockerignore during init and add docs guide

Author: Dushyant-Khoda

lib/commands/init.js

@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ function printSuccessMessage(projectName, packageManager) {
     console.log(chalk.white(`     ${INIT.DOC_AUTH}`));
     console.log(chalk.white(`     ${INIT.DOC_SERVICES}`));
     console.log(chalk.white(`     ${INIT.DOC_CLI}`));
+    console.log(chalk.white(`     ${INIT.DOC_DOCKER}`));
 
     // ── CLI quick reference ────────────────────────────────
     console.log("\n");

lib/constants.js

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ const INIT = {
     DOC_AUTH: "docs/authentication.md  Auth and OTP endpoints",
     DOC_SERVICES: "docs/services.md        Email, S3, Cloudinary usage",
     DOC_CLI: "docs/cli-usage.md       CLI commands and patterns",
+    DOC_DOCKER: "docs/docker.md          Docker orchestration and setup",
     SECTION_COMMANDS: "Commands",
     CMD_MODULE: "tas add-module <Name>     Full module (controller + model + router)",
     CMD_ROUTER: "tas add-router <Name>     Express router",

lib/core/projectCreator.js

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const chalk = require("chalk");
 const ora = require("ora");
 const { execSync } = require("child_process");
 
-const PSEUDO_DOTFILES = ["_gitignore", "_babelrc"];
+const PSEUDO_DOTFILES = ["_gitignore", "_babelrc", "_dockerignore"];
 const ENV_FILENAME = "config.env";
 
 /**

templates/node-mongo-js/_dockerignore

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+node_modules
+npm-debug.log
+.env
+.env.*
+config.env
+.git
+.gitignore
+coverage
+Src/Uploads/Logs
+*.md
+docker-compose.yml
+.dockerignore

templates/node-mongo-js/docs/docker.md

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# Docker Setup & Commands
+
+This application is fully containerized for both development and production. By using Docker, you eliminate "it works on my machine" issues and get a consistent environment instantly.
+
+## Architecture
+
+The `docker-compose.yml` spins up two services:
+1. **app:** The Node.js application container
+2. **mongo:** A designated MongoDB container with persistent data volumes
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- [Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/) installed and running.
+
+---
+
+## 🔥 Quick Start (Local Orchestration)
+
+To spin up the entire application (Node.js API + MongoDB) in one command:
+
+```bash
+docker-compose up -d
+```
+
+> **Note:** The `-d` flag runs the containers in detached mode (in the background).
+
+### Stopping the Containers
+To stop the application and database gracefully:
+```bash
+docker-compose down
+```
+
+---
+
+## 🛠️ Handy Docker Commands
+
+### 1. View Application Logs
+If you ran `docker-compose up -d` and want to see your server logs (e.g. to see startup errors or API requests):
+```bash
+docker-compose logs -f app
+```
+
+### 2. Rebuild the Application Container
+If you added a new NPM package or changed the `Dockerfile`, you must rebuild the image:
+```bash
+docker-compose up -d --build
+```
+
+### 3. Clear Database Volumes (Reset Data)
+To stop the application AND permanently delete all data in the MongoDB volume (Useful for a fresh slate):
+```bash
+docker-compose down -v
+```
+
+---
+
+## 📦 Production Deployment
+
+If you are deploying to a production server (like AWS EC2, DigitalOcean, or Render), you only need to build the API image.
+
+```bash
+# 1. Build the production Docker image
+docker build -t tryappstack-api .
+
+# 2. Run the container (Make sure to pass your custom ENV file)
+docker run -d -p 3000:3000 --env-file config.env tryappstack-api
+```