Maw

A minimal web framework for Rust. No macros, just functions.

Why Maw?

• No macros - Rust already looks beautiful, no need to hide it. Some frameworks go heavy on type gymnastics—we'd rather keep things readable
• Express-style next() - Call c.next().await, then inspect/modify the response after. Most Rust frameworks don't let you do this
• Debug your routes - Print the router to see exactly what handlers run where, with source locations
• Fast enough - High RPS, competitive performance. Some APIs trade microseconds for ergonomics, but Rust is already faster than Go/Node anyway

Quick Start

use maw::prelude::*;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), MawError> {
    let app = App::new().router(
        Router::new()
            .get("/", async |_: &mut Ctx| "Hello!")
            .get("/user/{id}", async |c: &mut Ctx| {
                let id: u32 = c.req.param("id")?;
                c.res.json(format!("User {id}"));
                Ok(())
            })
    );
    app.listen("127.0.0.1:3000").await
}

Middleware

Works like Express/Fiber. Call next(), do stuff before/after:

Router::new()
    .middleware(async |c: &mut Ctx| {
        let start = std::time::Instant::now();
        c.next().await;
        println!("took {:?}", start.elapsed()); // runs AFTER handler
    })
    .get("/", async |_: &mut Ctx| "Hello!")

Or attach middleware to specific routes:

.get("/protected", ((
    async |c: &mut Ctx| {
        let start = std::time::Instant::now();
        c.next().await;
        println!("took {:?}", start.elapsed()); // runs AFTER handler
    },
    async |c: &mut Ctx| {
        c.res.send("secret stuff");
    },
)))

.get("/protected", (auth_middleware, async |c: &mut Ctx| {
    c.res.send("secret stuff");
}))

Three Ways to Write Handlers

// 1. Async closure
.get("/", async |c: &mut Ctx| c.res.send("hi"))
.get("/", async |_: &mut Ctx| "hi")

// 2. Function
async fn handler(c: &mut Ctx) {
    c.res.send("hi");
}
async fn handler(c: &mut Ctx) -> &'static str {
    "hi"
}
.get("/", handler)

// 3. Struct - implement Handler (AsyncFn1) for stateful handlers, you can
struct RateLimit { max: u32 }

impl Handler<&mut Ctx> for RateLimit {
    type Output = ();
    async fn call(&self, c: &mut Ctx) -> Self::Output {
        // check rate limit using self.max...
        c.next().await;
    }
}

.middleware(RateLimit { max: 100 })

//

struct Hello { name: String }

impl Handler<&mut Ctx> for Hello {
    type Output = ();
    async fn call(&self, c: &mut Ctx) -> Self::Output {
        c.res.send(format!("Hello, {}!", self.name));
    }
}

.get("/hello", Hello { name: "Alice".into() })

Route Groups

let api = Router::group("/api")
    .get("/users", get_users)
    .post("/users", create_user);

let admin = Router::group("/admin")
    .middleware(require_admin)
    .get("/stats", stats);

Router::new()
    .push(api)
    .push(admin)

Debug Your Routes

let router = Router::new()
    .middleware(logging)
    .push(api)
    .push(admin);

println!("{router:#?}");
// Shows every route, its handlers, and where they're defined

Features

Enable what you need:

[dependencies]
maw = { version = "0.19", features = ["minijinja", "websocket"] }

Feature	What
minijinja	Template rendering
xml	XML request/response support
websocket	WebSocket support
static_files	Serve embedded files
middleware-cookie	Cookie parsing/setting
middleware-session	Session management
middleware-csrf	CSRF protection
middleware-logging	Request logging
middleware-catch_panic	Panic recovery
middleware-body_limit	Request body size limits
middleware	All middleware features
full	Everything

Templates

Uses MiniJinja:

let app = App::new()
    .views("templates")
    .router(Router::new()
        .get("/", async |c: &mut Ctx| {
            c.res.render("index.html");
        })
        .get("/user/{name}", async |c: &mut Ctx| {
            c.res.render_with("user.html", minijinja::context! {
                name => c.req.param_str("name")
            });
        })
    );

WebSocket

.ws("/ws", |mut ws| async move {
    while let Some(Ok(msg)) = ws.recv().await {
        if let WsMessage::Text(txt) = msg {
            ws.send(format!("echo: {txt}")).await.ok();
        }
    }
})

License

MIT