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Overview
Chi is a lightweight router compatible with Go's net/http. It keeps standard http.Handler semantics while adding route groups, subrouters, middleware chains, URL parameters, and request-context composition for REST APIs and HTTP services.
Features and best fit
Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:
Key features
Compose routers and middleware with standard net/http handlers
Chi routers implement http.Handler, so standard-library handlers and net/http-compatible middleware remain reusable. Route groups, inline middleware, and mounted subrouters help split larger APIs into smaller units.
Sources: [2]
Use request context and route parameters to structure API processing
URL parameters, Route/With/Mount, and context-based request-scoped values, timeouts, and cancellation can organize handlers and middleware around resources.
Sources: [2]
Best fit
Fits Go backends that want structured routing without leaving the standard HTTP model
Chi is a strong fit when a service wants a thin framework layer and needs to keep using existing http.Handler, standard-library components, and compatible middleware.
Sources: [2]
Before adoption
v5.3.2 declares Go 1.23 and Chi targets the four most recent major Go versions
The v5.3.2 go.mod declares Go 1.23. The release includes fixes around compressible content types, Route/Mount collisions, and 405 Allow headers, so routing edge cases and middleware behavior should be covered by upgrade regression tests.
Official sources
- [1]go-chi/chi — GitHub repository(2026-10-06)
- [2]Chi v5.3.2 — README(2026-10-06)
- [3]Chi v5.3.2 — go.mod(2026-10-06)
- [4]Chi v5.3.2 release(2026-10-06)
- [5]Chi MIT license(2026-10-06)
Supplemental curator note
Chi adds routing and middleware composition while preserving standard net/http handler compatibility. It is a good fit when a service needs structure without adopting a larger framework-specific request/response model.
Try it in 3 steps
- 1
Get the source
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/go-chi/chi.git - 2
Enter the repository
cd chi - 3
Check the official steps
Continue with the commands in the README Installation, Quick Start, or Getting Started section.
find . -maxdepth 1 -iname 'README*' -exec sed -n '1,220p' {} \; -quit
Growth
Growth trends · Last 30 days
22,929 Stars
Trend data is still being collected.
Development activity
Last 90 days · weekly
- Commits (last 30 days)
- 3
- Open PRs
- 70
Development activity is still being collected.
Built with
Categories and tags
Categories
GitHub data
GitHub dataView detailed GitHub data
GitHub Topics
- http
- router
- context
- middleware
- api
- rest-api
- microservices
- golang
- go
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