What’s New in Midway 3.0? A Deep Dive into the Latest Backend Framework Features

In January 2022, the Midway team livestreamed the Winter Direct Meeting and officially released Midway 3.0, an integrated version of the framework.

1. 3.0 Version Release

Midway 3.0 was launched on 2022‑01‑20, with new features detailed in the preview video.

2. Multi‑Version Documentation

The website now supports switching between documentation versions, defaulting to 3.0.

3. Clarified Technology Stack

Midway 3.0 defines three stacks:

Standard projects using Class + IoC for traditional Node.js web development.

Serverless projects supporting Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and KNative.

Integrated projects that fuse front‑end and back‑end development with functional programming.

4. Appreciation for Open‑Source Contributors

The team thanked contributors who submitted PRs and offered gifts for PRs submitted in 2021.

5. Upcoming Plans

Provide Egg templates.

Integrate OpenTelemetry after the new year.

Synchronize internal Alibaba versions.

Integrated 3.0 Details

Current Status

The integrated solution originated in February 2020 and has been used by over 2,800 applications.

New Syntax

Midway 3.0 redesigns the API syntax, retaining the “function‑as‑API” and “zero‑API call” concepts while adding full functionality.

An API definition now includes: Api(): define the API function.

The new syntax also supports zero‑API calls, allowing front‑end functions to be invoked directly.

Operators

Operators extend API capabilities and support three functions:

Declaration (e.g., Query/Params/Header).

Definition (e.g., Middleware).

Execution (e.g., Validate/HttpCode/Redirect).

Complex examples can be expressed concisely using operator composition.

1. Request & Response

Built‑in operators like Query / Params / Headers declare input types, and the SDK converts them into proper request structures. Response operators are also provided.

2. Middleware

The Middleware operator allows custom middleware definitions.

3. Validate & ValidateHttp

Validation uses Zod; Validate(...schemas) validates inputs at runtime while preserving TypeScript static safety.

Prisma ORM

Prisma generates a type‑safe ORM client from a schema, enabling both compile‑time and runtime safety.

New Routing

Midway 3.0 simplifies routing into two strategies: default route generation from function/file names, or explicit path specification with dynamic parameters.

New Full‑Stack Suite

Version 3.0 introduces a unified dev/start/build configuration, reducing learning and cognitive overhead.

New Request SDK

The @midwayjs/rpc client replaces the previous Axios‑based client, shrinking size by 64% (5.6 KB → 2 KB) and supporting both browser and Node.js environments with configurable middleware.

Frontend Builder

Based on unplugin, Midway provides Vite/Webpack plugins for one‑line front‑end integration.

Preview

The integrated 3.0 preview is publicly available; documentation and trial can be accessed at midwayjs.org .