Combine routes from multiple files in ExpressJS?

Question

What is the best way to combine routes from two files so Express Router will handle them at the same level? I'm thinking of something like this:

Default Routes File
This file would be generated and overwritten every time the generator runs:

var express     = require('express'),
    router      = express.Router(),
    custom      = require('./custom.routes');

router.get('/', function (req, res) {
});
router.post('/', function (req, res) {
});
router.put('/', function (req, res) {
});

router.use('/', custom);

module.exports = router;

Custom Routes File
This file would only be generated the first time and would never be overwritten.

var express = require('express'),
    router  = express.Router();

router.post('/custom-method', function (req, res) {

});

module.exports = router;

Parent Route File
This file is generated and overwritten constantly. It is responsible for providing the top level api route:

var express = require('express'),
    apiRouter  = express.Router();

var widgetRouter = require('./widget.routes');
apiRouter.use('/widgets', widgetRouter);

var sprocketRouter = require('./sprocket.routes');
apiRouter.use('/sprockets', sprocketRouter);

module.exports = apiRouter;

The obvious goal is to allow the developer to customize the routes and know his work will be safe even when the generator is run again.

Answer 1

router.use() does not necessarily need to take you deeper in the tree. You could just add the following line before the exports of the first file.

router.use('/', require('./routes.custom.js'));

With this you can also remove the wrapper from the custom file.