ReactServe

React-style backend framework for building APIs with JSX

ReactServe lets you build backend APIs using React-style JSX syntax. Define routes, handle requests, and send responses all within familiar JSX components.

Installation

npx create-react-serve my-api

Quick Start

import {
  App,
  Route,
  RouteGroup,
  Middleware,
  Response,
  useRoute,
  useSetContext,
  useContext,
  serve,
  type MiddlewareFunction,
} from "react-serve-js";

// Example auth middleware
const authMiddleware: MiddlewareFunction = (req, next) => {
  const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(" ")[1];
  if (!token) {
    return <Response status={401} json={{ error: "Unauthorized" }} />;
  }

  useSetContext("user", { id: 1, name: "User" });
  return next();
};

function Backend() {
  return (
    <App 
      port={6969}
      cors={true} // Enable CORS for all routes
    >
      <Route path="/" method="GET">
        {async () => {
          return <Response json={{ message: "Hello World!" }} />;
        }}
      </Route>

      <RouteGroup prefix="/api">
        <Middleware use={authMiddleware} />

        <Route path="/users/:id" method="GET">
          {async () => {
            const { params } = useRoute();
            const user = useContext("user");
            return <Response json={{ userId: params.id, currentUser: user }} />;
          }}
        </Route>
      </RouteGroup>
    </App>
  );
}

serve(Backend());

Components

<App>

The root component that configures your server.

Props:

• port?: number - Port to run the server on (default: 9000)
• cors?: boolean | CorsOptions - Enable CORS middleware. Pass true to enable with default options, or pass a CORS options object for custom configuration.

<Route>

Defines an API endpoint.

Props:

• path: string - URL path pattern (supports Express.js route parameters)
• method: string - HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.)
• children: () => Promise<ReactElement> - Async function that handles the request

<Middleware>

Executes middleware functions for request processing, authentication, logging, etc.

Props:

• use: MiddlewareFunction | MiddlewareFunction[] - The middleware function or array of middleware functions to execute

Example:

import { type MiddlewareFunction } from "react-serve-js";

const authMiddleware: MiddlewareFunction = (req, next) => {
  const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(" ")[1];
  if (!token) {
    return <Response status={401} json={{ error: "Unauthorized" }} />;
  }

  // Attach user data to request context
  useSetContext("user", { id: 1, name: "John" });

  return next(); // Continue to next middleware or route handler
};

<RouteGroup prefix="/api">
  {/* Single middleware */}
  <Middleware use={authMiddleware} />
  
  {/* Or multiple middleware as an array */}
  <RouteGroup prefix="/v2">
    <Middleware use={[loggingMiddleware, rateLimitMiddleware, authMiddleware]} />
    <Route path="/users" method="GET">
      {() => {
        const user = useContext("user");
        return <Response json={user} />;
      }}
    </Route>
  </RouteGroup>
</RouteGroup>;

<RouteGroup>

Groups routes together with a shared path prefix.

Props:

• prefix?: string - Path prefix to apply to all child routes
• children: ReactNode - Child routes and route groups

Example:

<RouteGroup prefix="/api">
  <Route path="/users" method="GET">
    {async () => <Response json={users} />}
  </Route>
  {/* This becomes /api/users */}

  <RouteGroup prefix="/v1">
    <Route path="/posts" method="GET">
      {async () => <Response json={posts} />}
    </Route>
    {/* This becomes /api/v1/posts */}
  </RouteGroup>
</RouteGroup>

<Response>

Sends a response back to the client.

Props:

• json?: any - JSON data to send
• status?: number - HTTP status code (default: 200)

Hooks

useRoute()

Access request data within route handlers.

const { params, query, body, req, res } = useRoute();

Returns:

• params - URL parameters
• query - Query string parameters
• body - Request body
• req - Express request object
• res - Express response object

useSetContext(key, value)

Store data in the request context (available in middleware).

const authMiddleware: MiddlewareFunction = (req, next) => {
  useSetContext("user", { id: 1, name: "John" });
  return next();
};

useContext(key)

Retrieve data from the request context (available in route handlers and middleware).

<Route path="/me" method="GET">
  {() => {
    const user = useContext("user");
    return <Response json={user} />;
  }}
</Route>

Features

• 🔥 Hot Reload - Automatic server restart on file changes (development)
• 🎯 Type Safe - Full TypeScript support
• ⚡ Fast - Built on Express.js
• 🧩 Composable - Use React patterns for API logic
• �️ Middleware Support - Authentication, logging, and custom middleware
• 🗂️ Route Grouping - Organize routes with shared prefixes
• �📦 Zero Config - Works out of the box