# restify/node-restify

The future of Node.js REST development

Repository: https://github.com/restify/node-restify
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/node-restify
Homepage: http://restify.com
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: server, restify, rest-api
Last push: 2026-08-25T16:49:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 88/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 67, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5609, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 8, "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 10686, forks 978 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:43.771567+00:00)

## What it is
Restify is a Node.js web service framework optimized for building semantically correct RESTful APIs, using connect-style middleware and Sinatra-style route handlers. It emphasizes introspection, performance, and RFC compliance, and is used in large-scale production Node.js deployments.

## Use cases
- build a REST API server in Node.js
- create semantically correct RESTful web services
- serve JSON endpoints with middleware for parsing query and body params
- build production-scale API backends
- define routes with parametric and wildcard path handlers
- build a Node.js API with strict HTTP semantics and proper status codes

## When to choose
- you are building a dedicated REST API in Node.js and care about HTTP spec correctness
- you want a lightweight, performance-focused alternative to Express for API-only services
- you need connect-style middleware and plugin-based parsing for a production API
- you want mature, battle-tested tooling used in large Node.js deployments

## When to avoid
- you are building a server-rendered website or need templating and SSR
- you want a full-featured modern framework with batteries included (e.g., NestJS, Fastify ecosystem)
- you need GraphQL, WebSockets, or non-REST protocols as the core of your service
- you prefer a framework with a very large current community and plugin ecosystem

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: stable
- function: web-framework, http-server, middleware, routing
- domain: web-development, backend, apis
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: rest-api, restful-services, connect-style-middleware, production-ready, nodejs

## Member repositories
- restify/node-restify (main) score 88

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:43.771567+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 2026-08-29T17:18:10.862672+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/restify/node-restify (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:43.771567+00:00, sha 67e7037c9a72)
  - homepage: http://restify.com (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:36.420338+00:00, sha 3ed005e82faa)
  - site_page: https://restify.com/docs/home (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:36.423057+00:00, sha 820ffb990b03)
  - site_page: https://restify.com/docs/6to7 (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:36.425769+00:00, sha 4b7a5a3dba4a)
  - site_page: https://restify.com/docs/4to5 (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:36.427706+00:00, sha 163a1308054f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.