Overview

Kaelum is a minimalist Node.js framework built on top of Express.js. It reduces boilerplate and accelerates development by providing sensible defaults and a tiny, opinionated API.

What It Does

Wraps Express with a thin ergonomic layer — no hidden magic
Pre-configures body parsing, static files, and view engines
Simplifies routing with addRoute() and apiRoute() tree syntax
Toggles CORS, Helmet, Morgan with single config flags
Scaffolds projects with npx kaelum create

Quick Example

const app = require("kaelum")();

app.setConfig({
  cors: true,
  helmet: true,
  logs: "dev",
  static: "public",
});

app.apiRoute("users", {
  get: (req, res) => res.json([]),
  post: (req, res) => res.status(201).json(req.body),
  "/:id": {
    get: (req, res) => res.json({ id: req.params.id }),
    put: (req, res) => res.json({ updated: true }),
    delete: (req, res) => res.status(204).send(),
  },
});

app.healthCheck();
app.useErrorHandler();
app.start(3000);

That’s a complete REST API with security headers, CORS, logging, health checks, and error handling — in 20 lines.

Who It’s For

Students learning Node.js who want a gentle introduction
Developers tired of copy-pasting Express boilerplate
Teams that want consistent project structure
Prototypers who need a working API in minutes

Installation

# Scaffold a new project
npx kaelum create my-app --template web

# Or add to existing project
npm install kaelum