A Modern, Fast, and Lightweight REST API Framework for C/C++

📚 Documentation • 🚀 Quick Start • 🤝 Contributing

A production-ready, high-performance RESTful API framework for C and C++. Inspired by modern API frameworks for simplicity and developer experience.

Crest is Still in Early Development. Expect frequent changes and updates.

✨ Features

• 🚀 High Performance - Built for speed with minimal overhead and thread pool
• 🔧 C & C++ Support - Use with both C and C++ projects
• 📚 Auto Documentation - Built-in Swagger UI at /docs
• 🎯 Simple API - Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
• 🔒 Production Ready - Exception handling, validation, and error reporting
• 🌐 Cross-Platform - Windows, Linux, and macOS support
• 📦 Easy Integration - Install via xmake, Conan, or vcpkg
• ⚡ Modern C++20 - Leverages latest C++ features
• 🎨 Responsive UI - Beautiful, mobile-friendly documentation interface
• 🔌 Middleware System - CORS, rate limiting, authentication, logging
• 🔌 WebSocket Support - Real-time bidirectional communication
• 💾 Database Helpers - Connection pooling, query builder, ORM-like models
• 📄 File Upload - Multipart form data parsing with validation
• 🎨 Template Engine - Dynamic HTML rendering with filters and conditionals

📦 Installation

Using xmake (Recommended)

xmake repo -u
xmake require crest

In your xmake.lua:

add_requires("crest")

target("your_app")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_packages("crest")
    add_files("src/*.cpp")

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/muhammad-fiaz/crest.git
cd crest
xmake build
xmake install

Download Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest packages from GitHub Releases - includes binaries, xmake, Conan, and vcpkg packages.

🚀 Quick Start

C++ Example

#include "crest/crest.hpp"

int main() {
    crest::App app;
    
    app.get("/", [](crest::Request& req, crest::Response& res) {
        res.json(200, R"({"message":"Hello, World!"})");
    });
    
    app.run("0.0.0.0", 8000);
    return 0;
}

C Example

#include "crest/crest.h"

void handle_root(crest_request_t* req, crest_response_t* res) {
    crest_response_json(res, 200, "{\"message\":\"Hello, World!\"}");
}

int main(void) {
    crest_app_t* app = crest_create();
    crest_route(app, CREST_GET, "/", handle_root, "Root endpoint");
    crest_run(app, "0.0.0.0", 8000);
    crest_destroy(app);
    return 0;
}

📖 Documentation

Full documentation is available at: https://muhammad-fiaz.github.io/Crest

• C API Documentation
• C++ API Documentation
• Configuration Guide
• Logging System
• Performance & Concurrency
• HTTP Status Codes Guide
• Schema Documentation
• Middleware System
• WebSocket Support
• Database Integration
• File Upload Handling
• Template Engine
• Examples

🎯 Core Concepts

Routes

Define routes with HTTP methods:

app.get("/users", handler);           // GET request
app.post("/users", handler);          // POST request
app.put("/users/:id", handler);       // PUT request
app.del("/users/:id", handler);       // DELETE request
app.patch("/users/:id", handler);     // PATCH request

Request Handling

app.get("/api/data", [](crest::Request& req, crest::Response& res) {
    std::string body = req.body();
    std::string query = req.query("param");
    std::string header = req.header("Authorization");
    
    res.json(200, R"({"status":"success"})");
});

Response Types

res.json(200, R"({"key":"value"})");        // JSON response
res.text(200, "Plain text");                 // Text response
res.html(200, "<h1>HTML</h1>");             // HTML response

Schema Definition

// Set schemas to match your actual responses
app.set_response_schema(crest::Method::GET, "/user",
    R"({"id": "number", "name": "string", "email": "string"})");

app.set_request_schema(crest::Method::POST, "/user",
    R"({"name": "string", "email": "string"})");

Configuration

crest::Config config;
config.title = "My API";
config.description = "API Description";
config.version = "1.0.0";
config.docs_enabled = true;
config.docs_path = "/docs";
config.openapi_path = "/openapi.json";

crest::App app(config);

🔧 Advanced Features

Proxy Configuration

app.set_proxy("http://proxy.example.com:8080");

Custom Host and Port

app.run("127.0.0.1", 3000);

Disable Documentation in Production

app.set_docs_enabled(false);

Exception Handling

try {
    app.run("0.0.0.0", 8000);
} catch (const crest::Exception& e) {
    std::cerr << "Error: " << e.what() << std::endl;
}

📊 Swagger UI

Crest automatically generates interactive API documentation accessible at /docs:

• Responsive Design - Works on all devices
• Real-time Updates - Reflects all registered routes
• OpenAPI Spec - Available at /openapi.json
• Error Display - Shows route conflicts and errors

🏗️ Project Structure

crest/
├── include/
│   └── crest/
│       ├── crest.h          # C API
│       ├── crest.hpp        # C++ API
│       └── internal/        # Internal headers
├── src/
│   ├── core/               # Core functionality
│   ├── http/               # HTTP handling
│   ├── router/             # Route management
│   ├── server/             # Server implementation
│   ├── middleware/         # Middleware support
│   ├── swagger/            # Documentation generation
│   └── utils/              # Utilities
├── examples/
│   ├── c/                  # C examples
│   └── cpp/                # C++ examples
├── tests/                  # Test suite
├── docs/                   # Documentation
└── xmake.lua              # Build configuration

🧪 Testing

Run the test suite:

xmake build crest_tests
xmake run crest_tests

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guide for details.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👤 Author

Muhammad Fiaz

• Email: contact@muhammadfiaz.com
• GitHub: @muhammad-fiaz

🙏 Acknowledgments

Crest is inspired by modern API frameworks that prioritize simplicity and developer experience.

🐛 Bug Reports

Found a bug? Please open an issue on GitHub.

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⭐ Star the repository if you find Crest useful!