Nex - A minimalist web framework for indie hackers and startups

Hello Elixir community!

I’m excited to share Nex, a web framework I’ve been building for the past few months. It’s designed for indie hackers, startups, and anyone who wants to ship web applications fast without enterprise complexity.

The philosophy:

Nex embraces simplicity and convention over configuration. It’s built for:

• Rapid development – Ship features, not prototypes
• Indie hackers & startups – Build profitable products
• Internal tools & dashboards – Admin panels, data dashboards
• Real-time applications – Live dashboards, chat, streaming with SSE
• Server-side rendering done right – Modern web apps without JavaScript overhead

What makes it different:

1. File-based routing – No configuration. Drop a file in src/pages/, get a route.
2. HTMX-first – Build interactive UIs with server-side rendering. No JavaScript framework needed.
3. Hot reload – Instant feedback while developing via WebSocket.
4. Real-time ready – Built-in Server-Sent Events for streaming data.
5. Zero config – Works out of the box with sensible defaults.
6. Production-ready – Docker included, deploy to Railway/Fly.io/Render in minutes.

Quick example:

defmodule MyApp.Pages.Todos do
  use Nex.Page

  def mount(_params) do
    %{todos: fetch_todos()}
  end

  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <h1>My Todos</h1>

    <form hx-post="/add_todo" hx-target="#todos" hx-swap="beforeend">
      <input type="text" name="title" required />
      <button>Add</button>
    </form>

    <ul id="todos">
      <li :for={todo <- @todos}>{todo.title}</li>
    </ul>
    """
  end

  def add_todo(%{"title" => title}) do
    todo = create_todo(title)

    ~H"<li>{@todo.title}</li>"
  end
end

Get started:

mix archive.install hex nex_new
mix nex.new my_app
cd my_app
mix nex.dev

Visit http://localhost:4000 and you’re running.

What’s included:

• File-based routing with dynamic routes ([id], [slug], [...path])
• HTMX integration with automatic CSRF protection
• Server-Sent Events for real-time streaming
• JSON API support
• Hot reload development experience
• Production-ready Docker setup

Example projects:

I’ve included several examples to get you started:

• chatbot – AI chat with streaming responses using SSE
• chatbot_sse – Real-time streaming with HTMX SSE extension
• guestbook – Simple guestbook with persistence
• dynamic_routes – Comprehensive showcase of all routing patterns

What’s NOT included:

• Built-in ORM (use Ecto directly)
• Authentication system (integrate your own)
• Asset pipeline (use CDN for Tailwind/DaisyUI)

This is intentional – Nex stays minimal so you can choose your own tools.

I’d love your feedback!

• Have you tried it? What worked? What didn’t?
• What features would make it more useful?
• Any pain points with the current approach?
• Would you use this for your projects?

Links:

• Hex Package (nex_core): nex_core | Hex
• Hex Package (nex_new): nex_new | Hex
• API Docs: nex_core v0.4.3 — Documentation
• GitHub:

https://github.com/gofenix/nex

Looking forward to hearing from you!