retold

Retold

A story-obsessed application suite.

Retold is a collection of 60+ JavaScript/Node.js modules for building web applications and APIs. The modules span six groups — from core dependency injection up through data access, API serving, full MVC, and complete applications — all designed to compose together through a shared service provider pattern. Plain JavaScript, no TypeScript. MIT licensed.

Module Groups

Group	Purpose
Fable	Core ecosystem: dependency injection, configuration, logging, UUID generation, expression parsing, REST client, template engine
Meadow	Data access layer: provider-agnostic ORM, query generation (FoxHound), schema definitions (Stricture), database connectors (MySQL, MSSQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, DGraph, Solr, RocksDB), auto-generated REST endpoints
Orator	API server: HTTP server abstraction over Restify, static file serving, reverse proxy, WebSocket reporting
Pict	MVC tools: views, templates, providers, application lifecycle — for browser, terminal, or any text-based UI
Utility	Build tools (Quackage), manifest management (Manyfest), documentation generation (Indoctrinate), process supervision (Ultravisor)
Apps	Full-stack applications built on Retold: content management (retold-content-system), remote access (retold-remote)

The Service Provider Pattern

Every Retold module extends fable-serviceproviderbase and registers with a Fable instance. That instance provides dependency injection, logging, UUID generation, and shared configuration. Any registered service can reach any other through this.fable, so modules are loosely coupled — you can swap database providers, change server implementations, or add custom services without modifying existing code.

const libFable = require('fable');
const libMeadow = require('meadow');
const libOrator = require('orator');

let _Fable = new libFable({ Product: 'MyApp', LogLevel: 3 });

// Services register with the Fable instance
let _Meadow = _Fable.instantiateServiceProvider('Meadow');
let _Orator = _Fable.instantiateServiceProvider('Orator');

// Every service can reach every other service
// _Meadow.fable.Orator, _Orator.fable.Meadow, etc.

Quick Start

# Core foundation
npm install fable

# Data access
npm install meadow foxhound stricture

# API server
npm install orator orator-serviceserver-restify meadow-endpoints

# Browser MVC
npm install pict

const libFable = require('fable');

let _Fable = new libFable({
	Product: 'MyApp',
	ProductVersion: '1.0.0',
	LogLevel: 3
});

_Fable.log.info('Retold application started.');

Testing

Each module has its own test suite: npm test from any module directory. Most modules only need Node.js, but the Meadow data access modules require MySQL and MSSQL for their full test suites.

Docker scripts in modules/meadow/meadow/scripts/ manage disposable test containers on non-standard ports (MySQL 33306, MSSQL 31433) so they won't conflict with local databases.

cd modules/meadow/meadow

# Start databases, seed data, and run tests
npm run test-mysql           # MySQL tests only
npm run test-mssql           # MSSQL tests only
npm run test-all-providers   # Both

# Tear down when done
npm run docker-cleanup

See docs/testing.md for full details on ports, connection settings, and managing containers.

Repository Structure

Each module is its own git repo, cloned into a category folder under modules/. The root repo tracks module organization — individual module code lives in their respective repos.

retold/
├── source/Retold.cjs
├── test/
├── docs/                 # Documentation site (pict-docuserve)
└── modules/
    ├── fable/            # Core ecosystem (6 modules)
    ├── meadow/           # Data access (19 modules)
    ├── orator/           # API server (7 modules)
    ├── pict/             # MVC tools (22 modules)
    ├── utility/          # Build & docs (6 modules)
    └── apps/             # Applications (2 apps)

Documentation

Full documentation lives in the docs/ folder and is served by pict-docuserve.

• Architecture — Layer model, service provider pattern, component breakdown
• Getting Started — Building your first Retold application step by step
• Examples — Complete runnable applications including a full-stack Todo List
• All Modules — Every repository in the suite with descriptions and links

License

MIT