# lukeed/polka

A micro web server so fast, it'll make you dance! :dancers:

Repository: https://github.com/lukeed/polka
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/polka
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2025-04-09T18:42:18+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 41/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 15, release rhythm 40, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3176, "days_push": 511, "days_rel": 713, "gap_med": 0.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: prerelease_only
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5590, forks 175 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:22.676271+00:00)

## What it is
Polka is an extremely minimal, high-performance Node.js web server library that serves as a faster, lighter alternative to Express.js. It provides routing, middleware support, and sub-applications on top of a native HTTP server in roughly 90 lines of code.

## Use cases
- build a lightweight REST API in Node.js
- replace Express.js with a faster micro web server
- serve HTTP endpoints with minimal overhead
- create a small web server with routing and middleware
- build a microservice with a tiny HTTP framework
- use existing Express middleware in a lighter server

## When to choose
- you want Express-like API and middleware compatibility with better performance and a tiny footprint
- you're building simple APIs or microservices where bundle size and speed matter
- you need a minimal HTTP server with routing without heavy dependencies

## When to avoid
- you need Express's full ecosystem, built-in features like template engines or static file serving out of the box
- you require advanced framework features like built-in validation, WebSockets, or extensive plugin systems
- your team relies heavily on Express-specific internals or large middleware chains

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: http-server, web-framework, routing, middleware
- domain: web-development, backend, apis
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: micro-framework, express-alternative, minimal, http-server, performant, nodejs

## Member repositories
- lukeed/polka (main) score 41

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.676271+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 2026-08-29T17:55:30.794583+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/lukeed/polka (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.676271+00:00, sha ce3c165f3312)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/polka (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:43.400581+00:00, sha 4a633b0ae520)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.