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Ktkit: A Kotlin toolkit for building server applications with Ktor

KtKit is a comprehensive Kotlin multiplatform toolkit designed to accelerate server-side development using Ktor. It brings together disparate libraries and established patterns to streamline common backend tasks, from request handling to configuration and error management. By leveraging modern Kotlin features like Arrow and context parameters, it aims to reduce boilerplate and improve developer ergonomics for building robust server applications.

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#20
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Feb 8, 11:00 PM
Last Seen
Feb 9, 2:00 AM
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The Lowdown

KtKit is an ambitious open-source Kotlin multiplatform toolkit focused on enhancing and speeding up the development of server applications built with Ktor. It acts as a cohesive wrapper, integrating several libraries and offering standardized approaches to common backend challenges, thus reducing repetitive coding efforts.

  • Ktor Application Bootstrap: Provides a ready-to-use Ktor setup, including dependency injection (Koin), JSON serialization, and automatic registration of REST handlers.
  • Standardized Request Handling: Implements consistent patterns for request processing, featuring tracing capabilities, hooks for authentication and permissions, and error responses aligned with RFC 9457 standards.
  • Operational Endpoints: Offers out-of-the-box /api/status/health and /api/status/metrics endpoints for service monitoring.
  • Flexible Configuration: Supports TOML-based configuration loading, complete with environment variable interpolation and layered merging of configuration files.
  • Developer Utilities: Includes convenience helpers for tasks like retries, JSON/TOML manipulation, and platform-agnostic file, HTTP, and process access.
  • Ergonomic Error & Context Management: Leverages Arrow's Raise functionality and Kotlin's context parameters to facilitate lightweight error handling and seamless propagation of execution context (e.g., request ID, principal, tracing) throughout the application, minimizing manual parameter passing.
  • Module Integrations: Features dedicated modules for Ktor's HTTP client (with functional error handling), and planned integrations for sqlx4k (database toolkit) and PGMQ (PostgreSQL message queue) to provide robust persistence and messaging capabilities.
  • Security Considerations: Highlights a crucial warning regarding its X-Real-Name header authentication mechanism, emphasizing it's only safe behind a trusted reverse proxy or API gateway.

As an actively evolving, early-stage project, KtKit aims to refine its abstractions based on real-world usage. It welcomes feedback and contributions from the community to help shape its future development, promising a more streamlined and robust development experience for Ktor users.