archery 1.2.2

A full-stack web development framework for Dart lang.

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Archery - A Full-Stack Web Framework for Dart

Laravel-inspired developer flow. Dart-native performance.
A readable, minimal, batteries-included backend framework for Dart 3.

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Why Archery

Archery reimagines backend development in Dart with a small set of predictable building blocks:

• Predictable – explicit, type‑safe APIs. No hidden magic.
• Minimal – keep the surface area tiny; build only what’s needed.
• Composable – IoC container + providers let features snap together.
• Fast – built directly on dart:io for zero overhead

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Features

• IoC Container - simple, predictable dependency resolution
• HTTP Kernel & Router - controllers, middleware, groups, typed params
• HTML Templating Engine - Blade-style includes & layouts
• ORM (JSON + SQLite) - migrations, models, CRUD helpers
• Auth System - login, register, sessions, middleware
• Static File Server - safe MIME mapping, caching, SPA fallback
• Config Loader - JSON configs with dot-notation access
• Example App - routes, controllers, auth views, blog, todos

Archery aims to stay small, explicit, and easy to read—without sacrificing the comforts of a real framework.

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Project Structure

lib/
    archery/                            # Framework core
        core/
            application.dart            # App lifecycle & provider registry
            container.dart              # ServiceContainer (DI)
            config.dart                 # JSON config loader
            kernel.dart                 # HTTP kernel
            provider.dart               # Provider base class
            template_engine.dart        # HTML templating engine
            static_files_server.dart
    
            http/
              router.dart               # Routes, groups, params, middleware
              body_parser.dart          # Form-data, URL-encoded, JSON, file uploads
              extensions.dart           # request.view(), request.json(), redirects

            orm/
              model.dart                # Base Model API
              json_file_model.dart
              sqlite_model.dart
              hasher.dart

            auth/
              auth_session.dart         # Sessions, login/logout, auth middleware
              
    src/                                # project source code
        config/                         # app.json, server.json
        database/                       # User model + migrations
        http/
            routes/                     # web.dart, api.dart
            controllers/
            views/                      # HTML templates
            public/                     # css/js/img
        apps/
            todos.dart                  # Todo model + routes

Getting Started

1. Install dependencies

git clone https://github.com/webarchery/archery
cd archery
dart pub get

2. Run the server

dart run bin/server.dart

Default server config lives in lib/src/config/server.json:

{
  "domain": "localhost",
  "port": 5501,
  "compress": true
}

Visit your app at:

http://localhost:5501

3. (Optional) Enable live reload

Install dartmon_cli for reloading server

dart pub global activate dartmon_cli

dartmon run bin/server.dart

BrowserSync watches HTML/CSS/JS/Dart files.

npm install
npm run start

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Core Concepts

App & Container

App bootstraps the framework and exposes a DI container:

final app = App();
await app.boot();

The container supports:

• bind (transient)
• singleton
• bindInstance
• scoped containers
• disposal callbacks

Routing

• GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE
• Route groups and middleware
• Typed params: {id:int}, {slug:string}
• RouteParams.get<T>() for safe access

router.get('/blog/{slug:string}', BlogPagesController.show);

Templates

Blade-style templates in lib/src/http/views:

@include('includes._main-header')
<h1>{{ title }}</h1>
@include('includes._main-footer')

Render in controllers:

return request.view('welcome', {'title': 'Hello'});

Request Helpers

• request.input('field')
• request.file('avatar')
• request.files()
• request.json(data)
• request.view(template, data)
• request.redirectToLogin() / redirectBack()

Handles:

• JSON
• URL-encoded forms
• Multipart forms + file uploads (UploadedFile)

ORM

Two backends:

• JsonFileModel — fast prototyping
• SQLiteModel — SQLite persistence (via sqflite_common_ffi)

Models implement:

static fromJson(Map json)
toJson(),    // for public api fields
toMetaJson() // for private db fields
Map<String, String> columnDefinitions

Migrations are plain Dart functions (lib/src/database/migrations.dart).

Auth

Located in archery/auth/auth_session.dart:

• Cookie-based sessions

• 1-hour expiration

• Auth.user(request) returns User?

• Auth.check(request) returns bool

• Auth.middleware / Guest.middleware

• Auth routes + views included:

  • /login
  • /register
  • /logout
  • /user/profile
  • /user/dashboard

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Example Features Included

• Blog demo (/blog)
• Todos demo (/todos) with full CRUD
• Auth pages and dashboard
• Welcome screen
• Asset pipeline via public/

These examples double as documentation for how to structure your own app.

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Roadmap

• CLI: archery new <app>
• View macros & control structures
• ORM relations
• Mailer
• Queue workers
• Testing utilities

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License

BSD-3-Clause See LICENSE file for details.