Fastify is one of the fastest Node.js web frameworks. It validates requests via JSON Schema, serializes responses automatically, and organizes code through an encapsulated plugin system.
Installation
bash
# Create Fastify project
mkdir my-api && cd my-api
npm init -y
npm i fastify @fastify/autoload @fastify/sensible @fastify/cors @fastify/jwt
Project Structure
# Recommended Fastify project layout
src/
├── app.js # App factory
├── server.js # Entry point
├── plugins/ # Shared plugins (db, auth)
│ ├── db.js
│ └── auth.js
├── routes/ # Route modules
│ ├── articles/
│ │ ├── index.js # Route handler
│ │ └── schema.js # JSON schemas
│ └── health.js
└── test/
└── articles.test.js
App Setup
javascript
// src/app.js — application factory with autoload
import Fastify from 'fastify';
import autoload from '@fastify/autoload';
import sensible from '@fastify/sensible';
import cors from '@fastify/cors';
import { join } from 'node:path';
export function buildApp(opts = {}) {
const app = Fastify({ logger: true, ...opts });
app.register(sensible);
app.register(cors, { origin: true });
app.register(autoload, { dir: join(import.meta.dirname, 'plugins') });
app.register(autoload, { dir: join(import.meta.dirname, 'routes'), options: { prefix: '/api' } });
return app;
}
javascript
// src/server.js — start the server
import { buildApp } from './app.js';
const app = buildApp();
app.listen({ port: 3000, host: '0.0.0.0' }, (err) => {
if (err) { app.log.error(err); process.exit(1); }
});
Routes with Schema Validation
javascript
// src/routes/articles/schema.js — JSON Schema definitions
export const articleSchema = {
type: 'object',
properties: {
id: { type: 'integer' },
title: { type: 'string' },
body: { type: 'string' },
createdAt: { type: 'string', format: 'date-time' },
},
};
export const createArticleSchema = {
body: {
type: 'object',
required: ['title', 'body'],
properties: {
title: { type: 'string', maxLength: 200 },
body: { type: 'string' },
},
},
response: { 201: articleSchema },
};
javascript
// src/routes/articles/index.js — article CRUD routes
import { createArticleSchema } from './schema.js';
export default async function articleRoutes(fastify) {
fastify.get('/', async (request) => {
const { page = 1, limit = 20 } = request.query;
const offset = (page - 1) * limit;
const { rows } = await fastify.db.query(
'SELECT * FROM articles ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT $1 OFFSET $2',
[limit, offset]
);
return rows;
});
fastify.get('/:id', async (request, reply) => {
const { rows } = await fastify.db.query('SELECT * FROM articles WHERE id = $1', [request.params.id]);
if (!rows[0]) return reply.notFound();
return rows[0];
});
fastify.post('/', { schema: createArticleSchema, preHandler: [fastify.authenticate] }, async (request, reply) => {
const { title, body } = request.body;
const { rows } = await fastify.db.query(
'INSERT INTO articles (title, body) VALUES ($1, $2) RETURNING *',
[title, body]
);
return reply.code(201).send(rows[0]);
});
}
Plugins
javascript
// src/plugins/db.js — database plugin with pg
import fp from 'fastify-plugin';
import pg from 'pg';
export default fp(async function dbPlugin(fastify) {
const pool = new pg.Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });
fastify.decorate('db', pool);
fastify.addHook('onClose', () => pool.end());
});
javascript
// src/plugins/auth.js — JWT auth plugin
import fp from 'fastify-plugin';
import jwt from '@fastify/jwt';
export default fp(async function authPlugin(fastify) {
fastify.register(jwt, { secret: process.env.JWT_SECRET || 'dev-secret' });
fastify.decorate('authenticate', async function (request, reply) {
try {
await request.jwtVerify();
} catch (err) {
reply.unauthorized();
}
});
});
Hooks
javascript
// src/app.js — lifecycle hooks example (add inside buildApp)
app.addHook('onRequest', async (request) => {
request.startTime = process.hrtime.bigint();
});
app.addHook('onResponse', async (request, reply) => {
const duration = Number(process.hrtime.bigint() - request.startTime) / 1e6;
request.log.info({ duration: `${duration.toFixed(2)}ms`, status: reply.statusCode }, 'request completed');
});
Error Handling
javascript
// src/app.js — custom error handler (add inside buildApp)
app.setErrorHandler((error, request, reply) => {
request.log.error(error);
const status = error.statusCode || 500;
reply.code(status).send({
error: error.name,
message: status === 500 ? 'Internal Server Error' : error.message,
});
});
Testing
javascript
// src/test/articles.test.js — testing with built-in inject
import { test } from 'node:test';
import assert from 'node:assert';
import { buildApp } from '../app.js';
test('GET /api/articles returns 200', async () => {
const app = buildApp({ logger: false });
const response = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/api/articles' });
assert.strictEqual(response.statusCode, 200);
await app.close();
});
Key Patterns
- Use
fastify-plugin(fp) for plugins that should share the same encapsulation context - Use JSON Schema for validation — it also generates automatic serialization for speed
- Use
@fastify/autoloadto auto-register plugins and routes from directories - Decorate the fastify instance (
fastify.decorate) for shared services (db, cache) - Use
@fastify/sensiblefor.notFound(),.unauthorized(), etc. helpers - Fastify is async-first: return values from handlers instead of calling
reply.send()