# Vapor — Server-Side Swift Web Framework

> A modern web framework written in Swift for building APIs and web applications on macOS and Linux.

## Install

Save the content below to `.claude/skills/` or append to your `CLAUDE.md`:

# Vapor — Server-Side Swift Web Framework

## Quick Use
```bash
brew install vapor
vapor new my-app
cd my-app
swift run App serve
```

## Introduction
Vapor is the most popular server-side Swift framework, enabling developers to build web applications, REST APIs, and real-time services using the same language they use for iOS and macOS development. It runs on Apple platforms and Linux, leveraging Swift's type safety and performance.

## What Vapor Does
- Builds HTTP servers and RESTful APIs with expressive Swift syntax
- Provides an ORM (Fluent) for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and MongoDB
- Handles WebSocket connections for real-time communication
- Renders server-side HTML with the Leaf templating engine
- Manages authentication, sessions, and middleware pipelines

## Architecture Overview
Vapor is built on top of SwiftNIO, Apple's event-driven networking framework. Incoming requests pass through a configurable middleware chain before reaching route handlers. The framework uses Swift's async/await concurrency model for non-blocking I/O. Fluent, the companion ORM, provides a query builder and model lifecycle hooks that work across multiple database drivers through a unified API.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Requires Swift 5.9+ on macOS or Ubuntu/Amazon Linux
- Install the Vapor toolbox via Homebrew or build from source
- Configure database connections and middleware in `configure.swift`
- Environment variables control port binding, log level, and database URLs
- Deploy using Docker, Heroku, AWS Lambda, or any Linux server with Swift installed

## Key Features
- Native async/await support throughout the request pipeline
- Type-safe routing with compile-time parameter validation
- Fluent ORM with migrations, eager loading, and soft deletes
- Built-in support for JWT, OAuth, and session-based authentication
- Vapor Cloud and community deployment guides for major platforms

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Kitura** — IBM's server-side Swift framework (now archived); Vapor is actively maintained with a larger community
- **Hummingbird** — Lightweight Swift HTTP framework; Vapor provides more built-in features like ORM and auth
- **Express (Node.js)** — Similar middleware-based design; Vapor benefits from Swift's type safety and compiled performance
- **FastAPI (Python)** — Both emphasize modern async patterns; Vapor uses compiled Swift while FastAPI uses Python with type hints

## FAQ
**Q: Can I share code between my iOS app and Vapor backend?**
A: Yes. Swift packages can be shared between client and server, enabling shared models, validation logic, and API contracts.

**Q: Does Vapor run on Linux?**
A: Yes. Vapor fully supports Ubuntu and Amazon Linux, making it suitable for server and container deployments.

**Q: How does Vapor performance compare to Node.js or Go?**
A: Vapor benefits from Swift's compiled nature and SwiftNIO's event loop. Benchmarks typically show it outperforming Node.js and competing with Go for HTTP throughput.

**Q: Is Vapor production-ready?**
A: Yes. Companies use Vapor in production for APIs and microservices. The framework has stable releases and long-term maintenance.

## Sources
- https://github.com/vapor/vapor
- https://docs.vapor.codes

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/vapor-server-side-swift-web-framework-d5dfb510
Author: AI Open Source