Sails.js

Sails.js is the MVC backend framework in The Boring JavaScript Stack. It provides convention-over-configuration server-side architecture with actions, helpers, models, policies, hooks, and a powerful routing system. The Boring Stack defaults to the actions2 format for all controllers and helpers.

Sails is built on Express and uses the Waterline ORM for database access. It pairs with Inertia.js to render React, Vue, or Svelte frontends without building a separate API.

Rules

Getting Started

• getting-started – App anatomy, project structure, file conventions, .sailsrc, globals, bootstrap

Core Concepts

• actions – Actions2 format, inputs, exits, response types, and action patterns
• helpers – Reusable helpers with inputs, exits, sync/async, error handling
• routes – Route configuration, dynamic parameters, wildcards, route targets
• policies – Request guards, policy configuration, authentication patterns
• hooks – App-level hooks, lifecycle, shared data, custom hook patterns

Request Pipeline

• request-lifecycle – How requests flow through hooks, middleware, policies, actions, and responses
• middleware – HTTP middleware pipeline, config/http.js, Express middleware, custom middleware

Configuration & Infrastructure

• configuration – Config files, environment variables, custom settings, datastores
• responses – Custom response types, the Inertia response flow, error responses
• security – CORS, CSRF, sessions, cookies, security best practices
• deployment – Production config, Redis sessions, environment setup, scaling

Framework Reference

• sails-object – The global sails object: sails.config, sails.helpers, sails.models, sails.log, sails.inertia
• file-uploads – File upload patterns with sails.uploadOne, Skipper, cloud storage
• shell-scripts – Background tasks, data migrations, maintenance scripts
• blueprints – Auto-generated REST API, blueprint configuration, when to use
• generators – Scaffolding with sails generate, custom generators, the page generator