Introduction

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Mooncore is a lightweight, action-based api framework for Elixir — a Phoenix alternative that puts actions at the center of everything.

Why Mooncore?

Phoenix is a great framework, but it carries a lot of weight. Controllers, views, templates, channels, LiveView, PubSub, Ecto integration — it's a full ecosystem. That's powerful, but not every project needs all of it.

Mooncore takes a different path. Instead of building around HTTP request/response cycles and MVC patterns, it builds around actions — named operations that are completely transport-agnostic. The same action works over HTTP, WebSocket, or a direct Elixir function call with zero changes.

Core Ideas

  • Actions, not controllers. Every feature is a named action ("task.create", "user.login"). No controllers, no routes for each endpoint — just a flat map of action names to handler functions.

  • Transport-agnostic. Your action code doesn't know or care whether it was called from an HTTP POST, a WebSocket message, or an internal Elixir call. The framework handles the transport layer; you write the logic.

  • You own the router. Mooncore doesn't generate routes for you. You write a standard Plug.Router, decide what URLs you want, which plugs to use, and how responses look. Mooncore provides the building blocks — you assemble them.

  • No database opinions. Mooncore doesn't ship with Ecto, doesn't assume you're using PostgreSQL, and doesn't generate migrations. Bring whatever database client you want and wire it up through middleware.

  • Minimal magic. No code generation, no macros that hide control flow, no implicit conventions. What you see is what runs.

What It Includes

ComponentPurpose
Mooncore.ActionAction dispatcher with role checking and middleware pipeline
Mooncore.AuthJWT RS256 authentication (token creation, verification, plug)
Mooncore.Endpoint.HttpHTTP adapter — turns a Plug.Conn into an action call
Mooncore.Endpoint.SocketWebSocket adapter — pub/sub broadcasting and message routing
Mooncore.MiddlewareBefore/after hooks for request/response transformation
Mooncore.AppMulti-app registry — support multiple apps in one deployment
Mooncore.DevDevelopment dashboard and MCP server for AI observability

What It Doesn't Include

  • No HTML templating engine
  • No database layer or ORM
  • No asset pipeline
  • No code generators
  • No LiveView equivalent
  • No opinionated project structure

You bring your own tools for these. Mooncore handles the action dispatch, authentication, real-time communication, and the middleware pipeline that ties them together.

Who Is It For?

Mooncore is built for developers who:

  • Build API-first applications (JSON APIs, real-time backends, microservices)
  • Want WebSocket support as a first-class citizen, not an add-on
  • Prefer explicit code over convention-driven magic
  • Need multi-tenant/multi-app support out of the box
  • Want a framework that stays out of the way

If you're building a content website with server-rendered HTML, Phoenix is probably the better choice. If you're building a real-time API backend where actions are the primary abstraction, Mooncore gives you exactly what you need and nothing more.