Chi Router

kiln supports chi as an alternative to the Go stdlib router.

Enable

api:
  framework: chi

Run kiln generate and the router uses chi:

// generated/router.go
func RegisterRoutes(r chi.Router, ...) {
    r.Get("/api/v1/users", users.List)
    r.Post("/api/v1/users", users.Create)
    r.Get("/api/v1/users/{id}", users.Get)
    r.Patch("/api/v1/users/{id}", users.Update)
    r.Delete("/api/v1/users/{id}", users.Delete)
}

What Changes

	stdlib	chi
Router type	*http.ServeMux	chi.Router
Route registration	mux.HandleFunc("GET /path", h)	r.Get("/path", h)
Import	net/http	github.com/go-chi/chi/v5
Auth middleware	auth.Middleware(mux)	r.Use(auth.Middleware)

What Doesn't Change

• Handlers still use (http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) - no chi-specific code
• Path parameters still use r.PathValue("id") (Go 1.22+, works with chi v5)
• Store layer is unchanged
• Models are unchanged
• OpenAPI spec is unchanged

Why Chi?

The stdlib router (Go 1.22+) works well for simple APIs. Chi adds:

• Middleware chaining (r.Use(...))
• Route groups (r.Group(...))
• Subrouters
• A large middleware ecosystem

If you don't need these, framework: stdlib is simpler.