Getting Started

Introduction

What NextRush is, who it's for, and the one path to your first running API.

Start here

One request flow. Every runtime. Zero hidden behavior.

NextRush is a backend framework for Node.js, Bun, Deno, and Edge — small core, strict TypeScript, explicit wiring. Follow a request through middleware, the router, and the adapter without hidden steps, and install only the packages you actually use.

Beginner5 minNode · Bun · Deno · EdgeTypeScript
Install →Read in one page
  • MIT
  • 100% TypeScript
  • 0 core dependencies
  • 4 runtimes, one codebase
  • Open source

Why NextRush exists

Node backend frameworks usually force one of two extremes.

Tiny but unstructured — a few hundred lines and a wildcard app.use. Fast to start, but every project reinvents how middleware composes, where types live, and how to grow past one file.

Powerful but heavy — a full platform with decorators, modules, and its own runtime. Productive at scale, but the smallest service pays for the whole machine.

NextRush sits in the middle. Strict TypeScript and optional structure (controllers, DI) when you want them, on a core that stays under 3,000 lines and runs the same code across four runtimes. One request path explains every feature; nothing is hidden behind a decorator or a global.

Core mental model

Four concepts carry every request, each owning one job — the flow below doubles as the page's chapter index: click any concept stop to jump to its walkthrough. For the full tour with the request diagram, both programming styles, and the runtimes, read NextRush in One Page.

  1. Request
  2. Application
  3. Middleware
  4. Router
  5. Handler
  6. Response

Application

The entry point — holds the middleware chain and hands each request down it. It orchestrates; it doesn't match routes or handle requests itself.

Middleware

Behavior wrapped around a handler like layers of an onion — auth, parsing, logging — running before and after, so cross-cutting concerns live in one place.

Router

Maps a path to the one handler responsible for it, matched by a segment trie so lookup cost tracks URL depth, not how many routes you've registered.

Context

The one per-request object every step reads from and writes to — params/query/body in, json/status/headers out — fresh per request, so nothing leaks between them.

Deep dive into Concepts

Application owns the middleware chain. Middleware composes behavior around a handler. The router picks which handler runs. Context is what they all read from and write to.

Where other frameworks trade off

If you've shipped HTTP APIs before, you've felt these edges. Each card names the one job a framework wins at and the cost you take on — so you can place NextRush against what you already know.

Express

Best for
A familiar API up fast on the largest middleware ecosystem.
Tradeoff
You wire middleware by hand and add types after the fact.

Koa

Best for
A clean async/await core with a minimal surface.
Tradeoff
Smaller ecosystem, and plugin quality varies.

Fastify

Best for
High Node throughput with a rich plugin system.
Tradeoff
Verbose JSON-Schema validation, and Node-only.

NestJS

Best for
Batteries-included structure and DI for large teams.
Tradeoff
Heavier runtime; Angular-style patterns for a small service.

Hono

Best for
Edge-first deploys on a modern, fast core.
Tradeoff
Younger ecosystem; defaults feel tight for a classic Node server.

NextRush aims for the middle NestJS and Express leave open: strict TypeScript and optional structure (controllers, DI) without a heavy runtime, on a core that stays under 3,000 lines and runs the same code across four runtimes.

Migrating from Express, Fastify, Hono, or NestJS? — the migration guide maps each one's habits to NextRush's, with side-by-side snippets and a difficulty rating per origin.

Choose NextRush if...

  • REST APIs and backend services that want strict TypeScript end to end
  • Projects that start functional and may grow into controllers and DI later
  • Deploying the same application code to more than one runtime (Node, Bun, Deno, Edge)
  • Teams who'd rather wire things explicitly than inherit implicit framework behavior

Choose another framework if...

It's a backend API framework, not a full-stack one

NextRush doesn't do SSR or full-stack routing. For that, reach for Next.js, Remix, or SvelteKit.

  • You need SSR or full-stack page routing
  • You want the widest npm middleware catalog available today (Express)
  • You need the longest production track record (Express, Fastify)

Your next step

One path, three stops — each hands you straight to the next.

1Step 1 · Set upInstallScaffold a project or install by hand, then verify a running server.2Step 2 · BuildBuild a Task APIThe hands-on tutorial: create, read, update, and delete over HTTP.3Step 3 · Go deeperNextRush in one pageEvery concept with a minimal example and a deep-dive link.

Continue learning

Three on-ramps pick up where this page leaves off — read in whichever order matches what you're building.

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NextRush Documentation

Minimal, modular Node.js backend framework with a zero-dependency functional core and multi-runtime support.

NextRush in One Page

The whole framework as one mental map — why it exists, its philosophy, the request path, every core piece, both programming styles, the runtimes, and where each idea lives in depth.

On this page

Why NextRush existsCore mental modelWhere other frameworks trade offChoose NextRush if...Choose another framework if...Your next stepContinue learning