yasserf (u/yasserf) - Readit News

yasserf commented on · Posted by u/yasserf

yasserf · 2 months ago

Pikku is a TypeScript backend framework that lets you write your backend as plain functions, similar to Lambdas, but without any platform tie-in.

Each function can be wired to whatever transport you want:

  - HTTP / WebSockets / SSE

  - Queues (SQS, RabbitMQ, Postgres jobs, etc.)

  - CLI commands, schedulers, or AI MCP agents

Pikku builds a full type contract between your backend and frontend. It doesn’t ship a runtime SDK just typed native fetch calls / websockets / queue clients so your frontend gets zero added bundle size and fully inferred request/response types out of the box.

The framework is tree-shaken at the function level, so you can deploy only what’s needed (plus its dependencies) as a binary, Docker image, or serverless functions. Switch cloud providers or queue systems freely, no rewrites, just switch runtimes.

Auth, permissions, and middleware live directly at the function level, giving you a single consistent entrypoint across all transports.

It also supports Next.js-style "use server" patterns — you can call backend functions directly in SSR while keeping them accessible over HTTP for external use.

There’s even a CLI mode where you can run commands on a server and stream live output to a tiny local client — same code, same types.

I'm about to release the next version that allow supports workflows similar to those just released by Vercel or by Cloudflare Workflows.

Would love to hear your thoughts! There's even more on the roadmap :D

yasserf commented on Ask HN: What are you working on? (October 2025) · Posted by u/david927

epolanski · 2 months ago

I think you need to frame your product better.

It clearly supports different runtimes than node with different capabilities and limitations.

It seems more of a runtime-agnostic web server.

yasserf · 2 months ago

Thank you for the feedback!

I agree framing pikku has been a pretty hard challenge for me.

It supports different runtimes in the sense of deno / bun or custom nodeJS runtimes in the cloud, but ultimately relies purely on typescript / a JavaScript compatible backend.

It’s less of a webserver and more of a lightweight framework though, since it also supports CLIs or Frontend SDKs / isn’t tied to running an actual server.

yasserf commented on Ask HN: What are you working on? (October 2025) · Posted by u/david927

yasserf · 2 months ago

I have been working on https://pikku.dev

The goal is to provide a fully typed nodeJS framework that allows you to write a typescript function once and then decide whether to wire it up to http, websocket, queues, scheduled tasks, mcp server, cli and other interactions.

You can switch between serverless and server deployments without any refactoring / completely agnostic to whatever platform your running it on

It also provides services, permissions, auth, eventhub, advanced tree shaking, middleware, schema generation and validation and more

The way it works is by scanning your project via the typescript compiler and generating a bootstrap file that imports everything you need (hence tree shaking), and allows you to filter down your backend to only the endpoints needed (great to pluck out individual entry points for serverless). It also generates types fetch, rpc, websocket and queue client files. Types is pretty much most of what pikku is about.

Think honoJS and nestJS sort of combined together and also decided to support most server standards / not just http.

Website needs love, currently working on a release to support CLI support and full tree shaking.

yasserf commented on Next.js is infuriating blog.meca.sh/3lxoty3shjc2... · Posted by u/Bogdanp

yasserf · 4 months ago

I agree it’s pretty frustrating, but I do really like the SSR capabilities

I’m divide my frontend and backend via pikku, that way I can continue using normal server side functions but optionally spin up a seperate api service if needed.

Haven’t really tested it on vercel as much, but it ignores middleware on the nextJS side unless it’s for frontend code.

https://pikku.dev/docs/runtimes/nextjs-app

Disclaimer: I’m the pikku core developer

yasserf commented on · Posted by u/yasserf

yasserf · 4 months ago

Most backends still treat HTTP as the “first-class citizen,” and everything else (WebSockets, queues, cron, mcp) feels bolted on with custom wiring and their own typings if any.

Pikku aims to take a different approach:

- Define a function once → invoke it from HTTP, WebSockets, queues, cron, or even Postgres.

- Deployment is your choice: single process, containers, serverless, or workers. Pick your own queue library, deploy scheduled tasks via lambda, the choice is endless.

- Fully typed, end-to-end → auto-generated clients are tiny, just thin wrappers over existing libs.

Built-in support for services, middleware, permissions, and auth.

Docs & examples: pikku.dev

yasserf commented on Ask HN: What if I fail to make it? · Posted by u/nextweeks

yasserf · 5 months ago

I would recommend looking into being able to recognise ‘thought viruses’

A book that really helped me was ‘Stop overthinking’ by Nick Trenton. I still have those thoughts, Anxiety isn’t the easiest thing to get rid of.

Find what it is that you enjoy, build habits (tiny habits / atomic habits are great references) and you might find that just moving a tiny bit in the direction that makes you happy might compound over time.

Success isn’t always about careers or large paydays. Your health, relationships, hobbies, identity and sanity play a big part of that as well.

I have friends who moved to other countries and restarted their lives at the age of 35/40, and I met people in their 70s who done the same.

Good luck!