RESTHeart

The backend framework that instantly turns MongoDB into REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket APIs.

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What is RESTHeart?

RESTHeart is a Java backend framework that instantly exposes your MongoDB database through secure REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket APIs — no backend code required.

Build production-ready APIs in minutes, then extend them with custom business logic using a powerful plugin system.

Perfect for:

• Building APIs without writing boilerplate CRUD code
• Rapid prototyping and MVPs
• Extending MongoDB with custom Java services
• Microservices architectures

Key capabilities:

• 🚀 Zero-code APIs — Connect to MongoDB and start querying via REST/GraphQL
• 🔐 Built-in security — Authentication, authorization, and role-based access control
• ⚡ High performance — Java Virtual Threads for efficient concurrency, built on Undertow (the battle-tested web server from JBoss, default in Wildfly Application Server)
• 🔌 Extensible — Plugin architecture for custom services, interceptors, and validators
• 🌐 Polyglot — Write plugins in JavaScript, Python, or other languages when running on GraalVM
• 📦 Production-ready — Docker support, metrics, monitoring, and native executables

Quick Start

Get RESTHeart and MongoDB running in 30 seconds:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SoftInstigate/restheart/master/docker-compose.yml --output docker-compose.yml && docker compose up --pull=always --attach restheart

Test it:

curl localhost:8080/ping

That's it! You now have a running RESTHeart instance connected to MongoDB.

👉 Next steps:

• REST API Tutorial — Learn CRUD operations
• GraphQL API Tutorial — Query with GraphQL
• Configuration Guide — Customize your setup
• Plugin Development — Extend with custom logic

💡 Need help? Ask Sophia, our AI assistant, or join us on Slack.

Running Without Docker

Download and run:

# 1. Download from releases
curl -L https://github.com/SoftInstigate/restheart/releases/latest/download/restheart.tar.gz -o restheart.tar.gz

# 2. Extract
tar -xzf restheart.tar.gz && cd restheart

# 3. Run (requires MongoDB on localhost:27017)
java -jar restheart.jar

Connect to remote MongoDB:

RHO='/mclient/connection-string->"mongodb://your-mongo-host:27017"' java -jar restheart.jar

Run in standalone mode (no MongoDB required):

java -jar restheart.jar -s

This mode is perfect for testing custom plugins, services, or running RESTHeart as a pure Java API server.

Compatible Databases

Works with MongoDB and MongoDB-compatible databases:

• MongoDB — Full support
• MongoDB Atlas — Cloud database
• Percona Server for MongoDB — Full support
• FerretDB — Partial compatibility
• Amazon DocumentDB — Partial compatibility
• Azure CosmosDB — Partial compatibility

RESTHeart Cloud

Looking for a fully managed solution? RESTHeart Cloud provides RESTHeart as a cloud service with zero infrastructure management. Get your API up and running in seconds without worrying about deployment, scaling, or maintenance.

Advanced Topics

Plugin Development with CLI: Use restheart-cli to scaffold and develop custom plugins with hot-reload support. The CLI streamlines plugin development, testing, and packaging.

Native Executables: Pre-built native executables for macOS, Linux, and Windows are available. See Native Executables for details.

Build from Source: Want to contribute or customize? Check out BUILD.md for build instructions and testing.

Full Documentation: Complete guides, API references, and examples at restheart.org/docs.

Get Help

• 🤖 Ask Sophia — AI assistant for quick answers
• 💬 Join Slack — Chat with the community
• 🐛 GitHub Issues — Report bugs or request features
• 💡 Stack Overflow — Technical questions
• 📅 Book a demo — Free 1-to-1 session

Support This Project

RESTHeart is open source and free. If you find it valuable, consider sponsoring us on GitHub.

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Made with ❤️ by SoftInstigate