Introduction

Masteris to Node what Rails is to Ruby: an opinionated, batteries-included framework that turns “I have an idea” into “it’s running” in seconds. It unifies three pieces — a CLI, a backend (MasterController), and an ORM (MasterRecord) — into a single, coherent developer experience.

The three pillars#

Master is a meta-framework. The master CLI orchestrates two libraries that each stand on their own:

• Master CLI — scaffolds a full-stack monorepo, generates code, and runs your app (dev/build/start), the way next and rails do.
• MasterController — the backend: a fast, ESM MVC framework with routing, controllers, a middleware pipeline, WebSockets, and enterprise security.
• MasterRecord — the ORM: code-first models, migrations, relationships, and an expressive query language across SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.

What a Master app looks like#

Every Master app is a decoupled monorepo: a Next.js frontend and a MasterController API live side by side and talk over HTTP.

my-app/
├── master.config.js        # ports + frontend toggle
├── backend/                # MasterController API + MasterRecord ORM
│   ├── server.js
│   └── app/
│       ├── routes.js        # URL → controller#action
│       ├── controllers/     # API controllers
│       └── models/          # MasterRecord entities + AppContext
└── frontend/               # Next.js App Router (your UI)
    └── app/

From zero to running#

Install the CLI, scaffold an app, create the database, and launch — four commands:

$ npm install -g master
$ master new my-app
$ cd my-app
$ master db migrate
$ master dev

master dev runs your API on :3001 and the Next.js app on :3000 together, with hot reload. That’s a complete, production-shaped full-stack app — no glue code.

Who is Master for?#

Rails & Django developers#

You’ll feel at home: convention over configuration, generators, migrations, and an ORM with an Active Record style — but in the Node.js ecosystem you already deploy.

Express & Nest developers#

Keep the Node you know, lose the wiring. Master gives you the structure, code generation, and ORM you normally assemble by hand.

Next.js developers#

Your frontend is real Next.js — App Router, Server Components, the works. Master gives it a first-class backend and database instead of cramming everything into route handlers.