sails

Sails.js is an MVC web application framework for Node.js inspired by Ruby on Rails, designed to make it easy to build custom, enterprise-grade Node.js applications. Sails provides a conventional project structure with models, controllers, services, policies (middleware), and configuration files organized in predictable directories. The framework includes Waterline, an ORM/ODM that supports multiple database adapters including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis, allowing developers to switch databases without changing application code. Sails features automatic RESTful API generation — defining a model automatically creates CRUD endpoints accessible through a conventional URL structure. The framework includes real-time communication through integrated Socket.IO support, allowing controllers to handle both HTTP and WebSocket requests transparently. Sails provides a blueprint system that automatically generates routes and actions for models, significantly reducing boilerplate for data-driven applications. The framework is well-suited for building dashboards, chat applications, and multi-player games that need real-time capabilities alongside traditional REST APIs, and for teams familiar with Rails conventions.