# http-kit/http-kit

Simple, high-performance event-driven HTTP client+server for Clojure

Repository: https://github.com/http-kit/http-kit
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/http-kit
Homepage: https://www.taoensso.com/http-kit
Language: Java
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: clojure, async, websockets, http-server, http-client
Last push: 2026-08-21T04:09:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 68/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 12, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5287, "days_push": 12, "days_rel": 379, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2565, forks 352 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:01.161033+00:00)

## What it is
http-kit is a minimalist, high-performance, event-driven HTTP client and server for Clojure, fully Ring-compatible as a drop-in replacement for the Jetty adapter. It offers a unified API for sync/async handling, WebSockets, and HTTP long-polling/streaming in a tiny ~90kB zero-dependency JAR.

## Use cases
- serve a Ring web app with a fast async HTTP server
- build realtime apps with WebSockets or long-polling
- make high-concurrency async HTTP requests from Clojure
- replace the Ring Jetty adapter for better performance
- handle hundreds of thousands of concurrent connections with low memory
- stream HTTP responses from a Clojure backend

## When to choose
- you need a lean, zero-dependency Ring server with excellent concurrency
- your app mixes WebSockets, streaming, and standard HTTP on the JVM
- you want sync and async request handling through one simple API

## When to avoid
- you need a full-featured server with extensive built-in middleware and TLS tuning out of the box
- you are not on the JVM/Clojure ecosystem
- you prefer a widely-staffed corporate-maintained server over a community-maintained one

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: http-server, http-client, websocket, middleware
- domain: web-development, backend, apis
- platform: jvm, jvm-scripting, cross-platform
- tags: ring, event-driven, async, high-concurrency, long-polling, zero-dependencies, real-time

## Member repositories
- http-kit/http-kit (main) score 68

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:01.161033+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:23:26.542719+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/http-kit/http-kit (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:01.161033+00:00, sha 6c8c41b87ada)
  - homepage: https://www.taoensso.com/http-kit (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:54.522215+00:00, sha f89e78e39b3b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.