RIFE2 - Full-stack, no-declaration web framework for modern Java

RIFE2 is a full-stack framework for building web applications in plain, type-safe Java.

Routing, templates, forms, persistence and tests are all ordinary Java code, with no XML, YAML or reflection magic. The compiler and your IDE understand your whole application, giving you completion, refactoring, navigation and type checking everywhere.

See RIFE2 in action

Each tab is a small, focused example. Try it live runs an interactive playground, served by this site, that exercises it, and every playground links to its own source.

A fully functional web application in a dozen lines

Run It!

./bld compile run      # using the bld build tool

./gradlew compile run  # using the Gradle build tool

View It!

http://localhost:8080/hello

Try it live

Served live by rife2.com, which is itself a RIFE2 app. View the source: DemoRouter.java and its template: hello.html

Routes are fields, so links and URLs are type-safe and survive refactoring

Try it live

The link's URL is generated from the route. Click it and Hello World appears. View the source: DemoRouter.java and its template: link.html

One template, one route: GET shows the form, POST shows the result

Try it live

One element serves both the GET that shows the form and the POST that shows the result. View the source: FormDemo.java and its template: form.html

Validation rules live on the bean, and RIFE2 checks every field server-side

Try it live

Submit the form and each field that breaks its constraints gets a precise error. Try an empty name, a bad email, or an age like 5. The rules can also live in a separate metadata class, keeping the bean a plain POJO. View the source: ValidationDemo.java and its template: validation.html

A CSRF token guards every state-changing request, so other sites can't forge them

Try it live

The real verification runs out of container. A legitimate submit is accepted, a forged cross-site request gets 403. View the source: CsrfDemo.java and its template: csrf.html

Beans and records convert to and from JSON, without annotations or dependencies

Try it live

the request

the response

Change the name and the live JSON API answers. The record's fields become the keys, with no annotations. This calls the running endpoint and shows exactly what it returns. View the source: JsonDemo.java

Templates are plain files with no embedded logic or expressions (HTML here, also XML, text, JSON and more): named blocks are the pieces, and Java assembles them. Open the live demo and the branch that runs for the current state lights up here.

Try it live

The same logic-less template renders both pages, and the highlighted lines above are the Java branch that just ran. Flip the state and only the Java's choice of block changes. View the source: TemplatesDemo.java and its template: templates.html

One element serves a browser the whole page and htmx just the changed fragment, with no client-side rendering code

Try it live

Type to filter: each keystroke fetches only the updated list, returned with printHtmxFragment from a template block rather than as a whole page. View the source: HtmxDemo.java and its template: htmx.html

A local variable preserved across requests, resuming exactly where it paused

Try it live

Every visitor gets their own counter. Open in its own tab and it counts independently. View the source: CounterDemo.java and its template: counter.html

Server-sent events with broadcasters that push from anywhere to every connected client or a filtered subset

Try it live

The clock is pushed once per second, and every tap is broadcast to all watchers. Open in its own tab, tap in one, and watch both jump. View the source: DemoRouter.java and its template: sse.html

Coordinate concurrent tasks as straight-line code that pauses on events, without managing threads or locks

Try it live

A warehouse, a courier and a notifier hand a parcel down the line, each written top to bottom and suspended mid-method by pauseForEvent. Place an order and it runs its own workflow to completion in one request. View the source: WorkflowDemo.java and its template: workflow.html

Versioned schema evolution with declarative, reversible migrations

Try it live

Step up and back to watch the real schema change. Each step runs against its own throwaway database. View the source: MigrationsDemo.java and its template: migrations.html

SQL queries built through a Java API, rendered in each database's own dialect

Try it live

Pick a database and only the generated SQL changes. One type-safe query, tailored to each dialect, and RIFE2 even rejects a clause a database can't run. View the source: QueriesDemo.java and its template: queries.html

The manager derives the table from a plain bean, then saves and restores rows with no SQL

Try it live

Add a book and the manager saves it and reads it straight back. Each request runs against its own private in-memory database that is discarded afterward, so nothing accumulates between requests. View the source: GqmDemo.java and its template: gqm.html

Out-of-container tests drive forms and links like a browser, with no running server

Try it live

The test finds the form in the HTML, fills it, and submits it, all in-process. Change the expected value to make it fail. View the source: TestDemo.java and its template: test.html

Just the beginning

While the examples above each run live on this page, they show only a small part of what RIFE2 offers, and its layers are built to work together.

These are some of the features:

Full Stack in 2.5MB No Dependencies Web Continuations Bidirectional Templates Server-Sent Events Pure Java Build System

Web

Engine with Continuations
Clean-URL Path Mapping
Out-of-container Testing
Form Building
Dynamic Validation
Server-Sent Events with Replay
htmx Integration
Customizable Authentication
CSRF Protection

Runtime & Deployment

Embedded Jetty or Tomcat
Virtual Threads by Default
Jakarta EE 10/11 War Deployment
GraalVM Native Images with Continuations
Explicit Java Module
Hierarchical Configuration
Persisted Scheduler
Dependency Injection
Workflow Engine with Continuations

Data

Database Query Builders
Generic Query Manager
Declarative Migrations
Bean-centric Metadata and Constraints
JSON with Bean Conversion
Content Management

Templates & Content

Bidirectional Logic-less Templates
Localization
RSS, Atom and JSON Feeds
WebJars
Resource Abstraction

Tooling

Pure Java Build System (bld)
IntelliJ IDEA Plugin
Gradle Plugin

Visit the project Read the documentation Learn more about bld

Virtual threads by default

On Java 21 and later, RIFE2's embedded server runs every request on its own virtual thread, with no configuration. You write ordinary blocking code: a database query, an HTTP call or a file read, parks only that thread instead of tying up a pooled request thread. There is no reactive API and no async plumbing to learn, and blocking code can scale to many concurrent I/O-bound requests because virtual threads are cheap to create and park. When deployed to an external servlet container, RIFE2 leaves request threading to the container. Either way, it fits the rest of RIFE2, which offers the same sequential model: continuations pause and resume a flow across requests, and the workflow engine coordinates concurrent tasks as straight-line code that waits on events.

Built for AI-assisted development

RIFE2's design suits AI coding assistants. Everything is plain, type-safe Java: no XML or YAML, no required annotations, and no reflection magic, so the compiler and the agent both read the application's structure straight from the source. Nothing is hidden: routes are fields, elements are classes, and templates are files, all discoverable by reading the code. The framework is a single 2.5MB jar with zero dependencies, built by bld in plain Java, so there is less machinery to reverse engineer. Out-of-container tests exercise the whole request cycle in memory for a fast compile-and-test loop, and an llms.txt at the site root gives agents an index of the framework's documentation.

Find out more

RIFE2's source code, community and issues can be found on GitHub:
https://github.com/rife2/rife2

About RIFE2

RIFE2 builds on the foundations of the original RIFE framework that was popular from 2002 to 2010. It preserves most of the original features and adds new ones, for a fraction of the footprint and with even greater developer productivity. RIFE2 is created and maintained by Geert Bevin, veteran Java coder and one of the first Java Champions.