Pikku is a TypeScript-powered framework that normalizes all the different ways you can interact with Node.js servers. It provides a unified approach to handling HTTP requests, WebSocket connections, scheduled tasks, and channels across different runtime environments.

Type-safe, runtime-agnostic, batteries included.

npm create pikku@latest my-app cd my-app npm run dev

• 🔐 Type Safety - Full TypeScript support with auto-generated type-safe clients
• 🌍 Runtime Agnostic - Works on Express, Fastify, Next.js, AWS Lambda, Cloudflare Workers, and more
• ⚡ Performance Optimized - Smart routing with static route optimization and middleware caching
• 🔋 Batteries Included - HTTP handlers, WebSocket channels, scheduled tasks, and pub/sub out of the box
• 🛠️ Great DX - Code generation, OpenAPI docs, and excellent tooling support
• 🎯 Unified API - Handle data from params, query, or body without knowing the source

At the core of Pikku is the pikkuFunc - a unified function that handles data from any source:

import { pikkuFunc } from '../pikku-types.gen.js' const addGithubStar = pikkuFunc< { repo: string }, { success: boolean; repo: string } >({ func: async ({ githubService }, { repo }, { session }) => { const currentSession = await session?.get() await githubService.addStar(repo, currentSession.userId) return { success: true, repo } }, auth: true, // Whether a session is needed for function to be invoked permissions: {}, // Permissions to run before function is invoked middleware: [logUsage, rateLimit], // Middleware to wrap functions docs: { name: 'Github star', description: 'Used to add stars to repos!', }, expose: true, // Expose this function via RPC })

Services are initialized at server startup and available to all functions. Pikku uses two types of services:

import { CreateSingletonServices, CreateWireServices, } from '../pikku-types.gen.js' import { ConsoleLogger, JWTService } from '@pikku/core/services' // Singleton services - created once at startup export const createSingletonServices: CreateSingletonServices = async ( config ) => { const logger = new ConsoleLogger() const db = new DatabaseClient() const jwt = new JWTService(['your-secret-key'], logger) return { logger, db, jwt } } // Wire services - created per request export const createWireServices: CreateWireServices = async ( services, interaction, session ) => { return { scopedLogger: new ScopedLogger(session.userId), } }

Pikku automatically generates type-safe clients from your API definitions:

npx pikku prebuild

Generates:

• pikku-fetch.gen.ts - HTTP client
• pikku-websocket.gen.ts - WebSocket client
• Full TypeScript definitions

Pikku works across multiple runtime environments:

Wire it up to HTTP:

wireHTTP({ route: '/api/github/star', method: 'post', func: addGithubStar, auth: true, })

Wire it to WebSocket channels:

wireChannel({ route: '/ws/github', name: 'github-api', onMessage: { addStar: addGithubStar, }, auth: true, })

Wire it to queue processing:

wireQueueWorker({ name: 'github-star-queue', func: addGithubStar, })

Wire it as an MCP tool:

wireMCPTool({ name: 'github-star', description: 'Add a star to a GitHub repository', func: addGithubStar, })

Wire a scheduled task (different function since no input/output):

const logStarCount = pikkuVoidFunc(async ({ githubService, logger }) => { const count = await githubService.getTotalStars() logger.info(`Total GitHub stars: ${count}`) }) wireScheduler({ name: 'star-counter', schedule: '0 0 * * *', // daily func: logStarCount, })

The documentation is available at pikku.dev.

Migration guides are available in docs/MIGRATION.md.

We welcome contributions! See our Contributing Guide for details on:

• Setting up the development environment
• Running tests and type checking
• Submitting pull requests
• Creating runtime adapters

• GitHub Discussions
• Discord Server
• X/Twitter

Thanks to all contributors!

Pikku uses a dual licensing approach:

• Core packages (@pikku/core, @pikku/* runtimes, services, etc.) - MIT License
• Inspector and CLI (@pikku/inspector, @pikku/cli) - Business Source License 1.1 (converts to MIT after 4 years)

See LICENSE for full details. The BSL restriction only prohibits offering commercial visual development tools for Pikku. Free and open source alternatives are welcome!

Contributors: By submitting a pull request, you agree to our CLA.