Getting started

You can start with Inversify HTTP in two ways:

1. Scaffold a sample app with @inversifyjs/create-http if you want a working project to experiment with.
2. Install the packages yourself if you prefer to add Inversify HTTP to an existing project or follow each step.

Scaffold a sample app

@inversifyjs/create-http generates a TypeScript HTTP app with an adapter of your choice, a Prisma-backed todo API, OpenAPI docs, and request validation.

npm

npm create @inversifyjs/http@latest my-app

pnpm

pnpm create @inversifyjs/http my-app

yarn

yarn create @inversifyjs/http my-app

Note

Generated Yarn projects use Yarn Berry. Enable Corepack (corepack enable) so the project's packageManager field is honored.

The CLI prompts for a package manager (npm, pnpm, or yarn), an HTTP adapter (express, fastify, hono, or uwebsockets), and an API modeling style (code-first or schema-first). You can also pass them as flags:

npm

npm create @inversifyjs/http@latest my-app -- --pm npm --adapter express --apiStyle code-first

pnpm

pnpm create @inversifyjs/http my-app --pm pnpm --adapter express --apiStyle code-first

yarn

yarn create @inversifyjs/http my-app --pm yarn --adapter express --apiStyle code-first

The CLI creates the project, installs dependencies, and builds it. The sample uses PostgreSQL; start the database from the generated docker-compose.yml, apply migrations, and run the app:

npm

cd my-app
docker compose up -d
npm run db:migrate
npm run serve

pnpm

cd my-app
docker compose up -d
pnpm db:migrate
pnpm serve

yarn

cd my-app
docker compose up -d
yarn db:migrate
yarn serve

Then open http://localhost:3000/docs for the generated OpenAPI UI, or http://localhost:3000/status to check that the server is up. The sample includes a todo API under /todos.

When you are ready to understand each piece, start with Controllers, or follow the manual setup below.

Install the packages yourself

Install dependencies

To get started with Inversify HTTP, first install the required packages.

Begin by installing the inversify packages and reflect-metadata:

npm

  npm install inversify reflect-metadata @inversifyjs/http-core

pnpm

  pnpm install inversify reflect-metadata @inversifyjs/http-core

yarn

  yarn add inversify reflect-metadata @inversifyjs/http-core

warning

Make sure to enable the Experimental Decorators and Emit Decorator Metadata options in your tsconfig.json.

Choose an HTTP adapter

Inversify HTTP works with several HTTP frameworks. Choose the adapter that best fits your needs:

Express

  npm install @inversifyjs/http-express

Fastify

  npm install @inversifyjs/http-fastify

Hono

  npm install @inversifyjs/http-hono

uWebSockets.js

  npm install @inversifyjs/http-uwebsockets

Configure server

After installing the packages, create a server to listen for incoming requests. Below is a basic example of setting up an Express server with Inversify HTTP.

const container: Container = new Container();

const adapter: InversifyExpressHttpAdapter = new InversifyExpressHttpAdapter(
  container,
);

const application: express.Application = await adapter.build();

application.listen(3000);

The server is ready to receive requests, but there are no handlers yet. Add a Controller to handle incoming requests.