Terminal.skills
Skills/chi
>

chi

You are an expert in Chi, the lightweight, idiomatic Go HTTP router built on `net/http`. You help developers build composable HTTP services using Chi's middleware stack, route groups, URL parameters, sub-routers, and context-based request scoping — providing Express-like ergonomics while staying 100% compatible with Go's standard library.

#go#router#http#middleware#lightweight#stdlib-compatible
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Source

Usage

$
✓ Installed chi v1.0.0

Getting Started

  1. Install the skill using the command above
  2. Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
  3. Reference the skill in your prompt
  4. The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically

Example Prompts

  • "Review the open pull requests and summarize what needs attention"
  • "Generate a changelog from the last 20 commits on the main branch"

Information

Version
1.0.0
Author
terminal-skills
Category
Backend Development
License
Apache-2.0

Documentation

You are an expert in Chi, the lightweight, idiomatic Go HTTP router built on net/http. You help developers build composable HTTP services using Chi's middleware stack, route groups, URL parameters, sub-routers, and context-based request scoping — providing Express-like ergonomics while staying 100% compatible with Go's standard library.

Core Capabilities

Router and Routes

go
package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "net/http"
    "github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
    "github.com/go-chi/chi/v5/middleware"
    "github.com/go-chi/cors"
)

func main() {
    r := chi.NewRouter()

    // Built-in middleware
    r.Use(middleware.Logger)
    r.Use(middleware.Recoverer)
    r.Use(middleware.RequestID)
    r.Use(middleware.RealIP)
    r.Use(middleware.Timeout(30 * time.Second))
    r.Use(cors.Handler(cors.Options{
        AllowedOrigins: []string{"https://app.example.com"},
        AllowedMethods: []string{"GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE"},
    }))

    // Public routes
    r.Get("/health", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"status": "ok"})
    })

    // Protected routes
    r.Route("/api", func(r chi.Router) {
        r.Use(authMiddleware)

        r.Route("/users", func(r chi.Router) {
            r.Get("/", listUsers)
            r.Post("/", createUser)

            r.Route("/{userID}", func(r chi.Router) {
                r.Use(userCtx)            // Load user into context
                r.Get("/", getUser)
                r.Put("/", updateUser)
                r.Delete("/", deleteUser)
                r.Get("/posts", getUserPosts)
            })
        })
    })

    http.ListenAndServe(":3000", r)
}

// Context middleware — load resource once, use in all sub-routes
func userCtx(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
    return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        userID := chi.URLParam(r, "userID")
        user, err := db.FindUser(userID)
        if err != nil {
            http.Error(w, "user not found", 404)
            return
        }
        ctx := context.WithValue(r.Context(), "user", user)
        next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(ctx))
    })
}

func getUser(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    user := r.Context().Value("user").(*User)
    json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(user)
}

func listUsers(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    page := r.URL.Query().Get("page")
    users, _ := db.ListUsers(page)
    w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(users)
}

Installation

bash
go get -u github.com/go-chi/chi/v5

Best Practices

  1. stdlib compatible — Chi handlers are http.HandlerFunc; use any net/http middleware without adapters
  2. Route groups — Use r.Route("/prefix", func(r chi.Router) {...}) for scoped middleware and routes
  3. Context middleware — Load resources in middleware, share via context.WithValue; DRY across sub-routes
  4. URL params — Use chi.URLParam(r, "id") to extract route parameters; type-safe, explicit
  5. Middleware ordering — Logger first, Recoverer second; auth before route-specific middleware
  6. Sub-routers — Mount independent routers: r.Mount("/admin", adminRouter()); clean separation
  7. Timeouts — Use middleware.Timeout to prevent slow handlers from blocking; returns 504 on timeout
  8. No magic — Chi doesn't do dependency injection or auto-binding; explicit is better than implicit in Go