cowboy/doc/src/manual/cowboy_app.asciidoc

= cowboy(7)

== Name

cowboy - Small, fast, modern HTTP server for Erlang/OTP

== Description

Cowboy is an HTTP server for Erlang/OTP with support for the
HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2 and Websocket protocols.

Cowboy aims to provide a complete HTTP stack. This includes
the implementation of the HTTP RFCs but also any directly
related standards, like Websocket or Server-Sent Events.

== Modules

Functions:

* link:man:cowboy(3)[cowboy(3)] - Listener management
* link:man:cowboy_req(3)[cowboy_req(3)] - Request and response
* link:man:cowboy_router(3)[cowboy_router(3)] - Router
* link:man:cowboy_constraints(3)[cowboy_constraints(3)] - Constraints

Protocols:

* link:man:cowboy_http(3)[cowboy_http(3)] - HTTP/1.1
* link:man:cowboy_http2(3)[cowboy_http2(3)] - HTTP/2
* link:man:cowboy_websocket(3)[cowboy_websocket(3)] - Websocket

Handlers:

* link:man:cowboy_static(3)[cowboy_static(3)] - Static file handler

Stream handlers:

* link:man:cowboy_stream_h(3)[cowboy_stream_h(3)] - Default stream handler
* link:man:cowboy_compress_h(3)[cowboy_compress_h(3)] - Compress stream handler
* link:man:cowboy_metrics_h(3)[cowboy_metrics_h(3)] - Metrics stream handler
* link:man:cowboy_tracer_h(3)[cowboy_tracer_h(3)] - Tracer stream handler

Behaviors:

* link:man:cowboy_handler(3)[cowboy_handler(3)] - Plain HTTP handlers
* link:man:cowboy_loop(3)[cowboy_loop(3)] - Loop handlers
* link:man:cowboy_middleware(3)[cowboy_middleware(3)] - Middlewares
* link:man:cowboy_rest(3)[cowboy_rest(3)] - REST handlers
* link:man:cowboy_stream(3)[cowboy_stream(3)] - Stream handlers
* link:man:cowboy_websocket(3)[cowboy_websocket(3)] - Websocket handlers

Middlewares:

* link:man:cowboy_router(3)[cowboy_router(3)] - Router middleware
* link:man:cowboy_handler(3)[cowboy_handler(3)] - Handler middleware

// @todo http_status_codes is not linked to; what to do with it?

== Dependencies

* link:man:ranch(7)[ranch(7)] - Socket acceptor pool for TCP protocols
* link:man:cowlib(7)[cowlib(7)] - Support library for manipulating Web protocols
* ssl - Secure communication over sockets
* crypto - Crypto functions

All these applications must be started before the `cowboy`
application. To start Cowboy and all dependencies at once:

[source,erlang]
----
{ok, _} = application:ensure_all_started(cowboy).
----

== Environment

The `cowboy` application does not define any application
environment configuration parameters.

== See also

link:man:ranch(7)[ranch(7)],
link:man:cowlib(7)[cowlib(7)]