Zinc: An Express-style API framework for Go built on net/HTTP

Hey folks,

I’ve been working on a Go API framework called Zinc and I’m starting to look for contributors who might want to help shape it.

Repo: https://github.com/0mjs/zinc

The project came out of a simple frustration: I love the developer experience of frameworks like Express or Fiber, but I didn’t want to abandon the Go standard library to get it.

Zinc exists because I wanted building APIs in Go to feel closer to the Express style of development:

simple routing

practical middleware

fast path from idea → running server

Frameworks like Fiber showed how approachable that style can be in Go. But Fiber achieves that by switching the entire stack to fasthttp, which means leaving behind the standard net/http ecosystem.

Zinc intentionally does not do that.

Instead it:

runs entirely on net/http

keeps standard request/response semantics

avoids framework-specific abstractions that lock you in

stays compatible with the huge Go middleware ecosystem

This might especially appeal to:

Retired TypeScript / Node engineers (now Go) who love Express or Fiber

Go developers who want a cleaner API framework DX

people who prefer stdlib-first Go architecture

folks interested in router internals, performance, or DX design

Some areas I’d love help with:

docs and examples

middleware ecosystem

cookbook additions

performance tuning

testing

DX improvements

community feedback on the API design

If you like the idea of Express-style DX without leaving the Go stdlib, I’d love to get some other eyes on the project.

Even feedback or criticism is useful.

Curious to hear what people think.