// the find
xyproto/algernon
Small self-contained pure-Go web server with Lua, Teal, Markdown, Ollama, HTTP/2, QUIC, Redis, TypeScript, SQLite and PostgreSQL support ++
Algernon is a single Go binary that tries to be an entire web application platform: HTTP/2+3, Lua/Teal scripting, Markdown, Pongo2, Amber, JSX/TSX transpilation, Sass, WebAuthn, Ollama, and five different database backends, all with zero external runtime dependencies. It targets developers who want to prototype or host small apps without standing up a build pipeline or a Node ecosystem. The <17MB Docker image is the headline.
The single-binary story is real — Go's compilation model means Lua, esbuild, React 19, and QUIC are all genuinely baked in, not shelled out. The automatic Redis→BoltDB fallback means you can develop offline and the server just works. WebAuthn support exposed as four Lua functions is surprisingly practical for passwordless auth on small projects. The `.prompt` file format for LLM-generated content is a clever idea: drop a file, get a cached AI-generated page, no code required.
The template engine count (Amber, Pongo2, GCSS, HyperApp, Markdown, Lua, Teal, JSX, TSX) is out of control — Amber is effectively abandoned, and supporting nine rendering paths means none of them get deep attention. gopher-lua is not full Lua 5.4 and explicitly lacks `package.loadlib`, so any Lua library that touches C extensions is dead on arrival. The `.prompt` LLM feature requires Ollama to respond within 10 seconds, which is a silent failure mode on slower hardware or large models. Auto-refresh via inotify only works on Linux and macOS, so Windows development is a second-class experience despite the 'cross-platform' topic tag.