Installation

xil is one package. Optional modules ship as subpaths of it, not separate packages.

Requirements

• Node.js 22 or later.
• An ESM project ("type": "module" in package.json, or .mts files).
• A Standard Schema library for validation — Zod, Valibot, or ArkType. xil depends on none of them; pick one.

Install

pnpm

pnpm add @architectine/xil zod

npm

npm install @architectine/xil zod

yarn

yarn add @architectine/xil zod

Express itself ships inside @architectine/xil — there is nothing else to install for the core. Zod is one option among three; swap it for valibot or arktype and nothing else in this guide changes.

Subpaths

Each optional module is a subpath import. Nothing is registered unless you import and construct it.

Import	What it adds
@architectine/xil	createApp, Router, Ctx, errors, hooks, logging, config, events, cache
@architectine/xil/auth	sessions, JWTs, opaque tokens, password hashing
@architectine/xil/upload	multipart file uploads
@architectine/xil/rate-limit	request rate limiting
@architectine/xil/openapi	OpenAPI 3.1 generation and a docs UI

Optional peer packages

A few features reach for a package only when you use them. Each throws a clear message naming the install command if you use the feature without it.

Package	Needed for
@keyv/redis	redisStore() in the cache module
ioredis	a Redis-backed rate limiter
@node-rs/argon2	argon2() password hashing in the auth module
@valibot/to-json-schema	converting Valibot schemas for the OpenAPI module

Zod and ArkType need no extra package for OpenAPI conversion; both expose the conversion xil needs directly.

Next

Continue to Your first app to build something with it, or jump straight to a module’s guide if you already know what you’re using it for.