---
url: https://nimbus.overlap.at/guide/what-is-nimbus.md
description: >-
  Nimbus is a lightweight TypeScript framework for event-driven apps with
  CloudEvents messaging, CQRS patterns, and built-in OpenTelemetry
  observability.
---

# What is Nimbus?

Nimbus is a lightweight TypeScript framework for building event-driven applications. It provides type-safe messaging patterns (Commands, Queries, Events) following the [CloudEvents](https://cloudevents.io/) specification, with built-in observability powered by [OpenTelemetry](https://opentelemetry.io/).

## Other Topics

* [The Philosophy behind Nimbus](/guide/philosophy)
* [The Era of AI](/guide/era-of-ai)
* [Architecture Recommendation](/guide/architecture)
* [Glossary](/guide/glossary) — pinned terminology for humans and AI agents

## Who Is This For?

Nimbus is a good fit if you are:

* Building event-driven applications
* Looking for explicit, traceable code without hidden magic
* Wanting built-in observability without complex setup
* Preferring a lightweight framework over heavyweight solutions

## Key Features

* **CloudEvents-based messaging** - Commands, Queries, and Events following the industry-standard [CloudEvents](https://cloudevents.io/) specification
* **Built-in observability** - Logging, tracing, and metrics via [OpenTelemetry](https://opentelemetry.io/) with zero boilerplate
* **Type-safe validation** - Message validation with [Zod](https://zod.dev/) schemas
* **MongoDB integration** - Repository pattern and CRUD operations with automatic tracing
* **Hono middleware** - Ready-to-use middleware for HTTP APIs
* **Runtime flexibility** - Deno-first with NPM and Bun support