Feather🪶: A Rust web framework that does not use async
🪶 Feather
Feather is a lightweight, DX-first web framework for Rust. Inspired by the simplicity of Express.js, but designed for Rust’s performance and safety.
Why Feather?
- Simplicity over Complexity
- Easy State Management Using Context
- All in One
- Feel of Async Without Async
- Great Documantation
How it works behind the scenes
Feather is powered by Feather-Runtime, a custom HTTP Engine built for high concurrency and low latency without using Rust's async/await. Each request is handled by a lightweight coroutine(using may), enabling thousands of concurrent connections with simple, synchronous code. For more technical details, see Feather-Runtime.
Getting Started
Add Feather to your Cargo.toml:
[dependencies]
feather = "~0.8"
Quick Example
use feather::{App, middleware_fn, next};
#[middleware_fn] fn hello() -> feather::Outcome { res.send_text("Hello, world!"); next!() }
fn main() { let mut app = App::new(); app.get("/", hello); app.listen("127.0.0.1:5050"); }
That’s all — no async.
Middleware in Feather
Middleware is the heart of Feather. You may write it as a closure (using the middleware! macro), a struct, or chain them together:
use feather::{App, middleware_fn, next};
#[middleware_fn] fn log_middleware() -> feather::Outcome { println!("Custom global middleware!"); next!() }
#[middleware_fn] fn hello() -> feather::Outcome { res.send_text("Hello, world!"); next!() }
fn main() { let mut app = App::new(); app.usemiddleware(logmiddleware); app.get("/", hello); app.listen("127.0.0.1:5050"); }
Or as a struct:
use feather::{middleware_fn, Request, Response, AppContext, Middleware, next, info};""
struct CustomMiddleware(String);
impl Middleware for CustomMiddleware { fn handle(&self, request: &mut Request, response: &mut Response, _ctx: &AppContext) -> feather::Outcome { info!("Hii I am a Struct Middleware and this is my data: {}", self.0); next!() } }
State Management using the Context API
Feather's Context API allows you to manage application-wide state without extractors or macros.
use feather::{App, middleware_fn, next};
#[derive(Debug)]
struct Counter { pub count: i32 }
#[middleware_fn] fn count() -> feather::Outcome { let counter = ctx.get_state::<State<Counter>>().unwrap(); counter.lock().count += 1; res.send_text(format!("Counted! {}", counter.count)); next!() }
fn main() { let mut app = App::new(); app.context().set_state(State::new(Counter { count: 0 })); app.get("/", count); app.listen("127.0.0.1:5050"); }
Context is especially useful when needing to access databases and files.
Built-in JWT Authentication
Feather has a native JWT module activated using a cargo feature jwt:
[dependencies]
feather = { version = "*", features = ["jwt"] }
use feather::{App, jwtrequired, middlewarefn, next};
use feather::jwt::{JwtManager, SimpleClaims};
#[middleware_fn] fn token_route() -> feather::Outcome { let token = ctx.jwt().generate_simple("user", 1)?; res.send_text(format!("Token: {}", token)); next!() }
#[jwt_required] #[middleware_fn] fn protected(claims: SimpleClaims) -> feather::Outcome { res.send_text(format!("Hello, {}!", claims.sub)); next!() }
fn main() { let mut app = App::new(); let manager = JwtManager::new("secretcode"); app.context().set_jwt(manager); app.get("/token", token_route); app.get("/auth", protected); app.listen("127.0.0.1:8080"); }
Logging
When you create a new Feather application, it initializes the logger by default.fn main() {
let mut app = App::new();
info!("Feather app ready to serve requests!");
// Your app setup here
app.listen("127.0.1:5050");
}
if you don't want it to be initialized, you can disable it by create a App with without_logger method
Goals
- Be the simplest Rust web framework to get started with
- Be modular and easy to extend
- Focus on DX without sacrificing Rust's safety and performance
Contributing
PRs are welcome! If you have ideas or bugs, please open an issue or submit a pull request.
# Getting started with dev
git clone https://github.com/BersisSe/feather.git
cd feather
cargo run --example app
License
Feather is MIT licensed. See LICENSE.
Acknowledgments
Feather is inspired by Express.js and exists to bring that same productivity to Rust. Huge thanks to the Rust community for their support and contributions! Special thanks to the contributors who have helped make Feather better!
Spread the Word
If you like Feather:
- ⭐ Star it on GitHub,
- Share it on Reddit, HN, or Discord
- Build something and show up!