Prod:RC-29:04:2026 v4.1.3 (Major Release)

[CODE-Y02]

Release Notes: v4.1.3 (Major Release)

This release introduces Create Express Forge v4, a significant leap forward in building "AI-Native" Express applications. This version focuses on structural type-safety, high-performance tooling, and deep integration with AI coding assistants.

🚨 Breaking Changes

• OpenAPI Migration: We have moved away from JSDoc-based OpenAPI comments. Scaffolding now utilizes zod-to-openapi, keeping your documentation and validation logic in a single, type-safe source of truth.
• Functional API Responses: The ApiResponse class has been replaced with a functional approach. Templates now export tree-shakable helpers like sendSuccess and sendCreated.
• Biome Integration: ESLint and Prettier have been replaced with Biome across the entire stack for sub-millisecond linting and formatting.
• Node.js Requirement: Minimum supported Node.js version is now v20+.

✨ New Features

🤖 AI-Native Infrastructure

• MCP Server: Built-in Model Context Protocol server (@create-express-forge/mcp) allowing tools like Cursor or Claude to understand your project structure and docs in real-time.
• LLM Context Files: Automatic generation of llms.txt, llms-full.txt, and ai.json to make your projects "AI-Readable" from day one.

⚡ CLI & Scaffolding Enhancements

• Current Directory Support: You can now run npx create-express-forge . to scaffold directly into your current folder.
• Redis Integration: First-class support for Redis caching with pre-configured clients and environment variables.
• Premium Welcome Experience: A new, high-fidelity CLI splash screen with dynamic gradients and personalized greetings.
• Automated Import Aliases: Full support for @/ aliases out of the box for both MVC and Modular architectures.

📚 Documentation & Ecosystem

• Dual-Version Docs: New documentation site with a version switcher to support both v4 (Latest) and v3 (LTS).
• Automated Docs Generation: Documentation now builds automatically from your Zod schemas.

🛠️ Internal Improvements

• Resilient DB Connections: Added robust retry logic for database initialization in scaffolded projects.
• Optimized Dockerfiles: Multi-stage builds are now more efficient and smaller in size.
• Product Rebranding: Standardized naming to Create Express Forge across all packages.

---

📈 Release Checklist

• Type safety validated (pnpm run check-types)
• All integration and unit tests passed (pnpm run test)
• Production build successful (pnpm run build)
• Changeset created for versioning
• Documentation synchronized with v4 spec

---

Important

Migration Tip: If you are upgrading from v3, please refer to the V4 Migration Guide for details on transitioning your OpenAPI definitions and Response helpers.