Packages

NestRS is a monorepo of crates, not one fat dependency. Each concern — HTTP, GraphQL, queues, authorization, observability — is a separate package you import only when the binary needs it. A headless worker compiles no HTTP stack; an MCP-only assistant compiles no GraphQL schema.

The recommended install path is depending on the individual nest-rs-* crates you need — it is what nestrs new scaffolds, what every exemplar app in the Publish workspace does, and what each module’s adoption page means by cargo add nest-rs-<crate>. The nest-rs umbrella (one dependency, surface crates behind Cargo features such as features = ["http", "seaorm", "graphql"], plus nest_rs::prelude) is an optional convenience for quick experiments — same crates underneath, less control over the graph.

Note

This page lists framework crates — the batteries NestRS ships. Product logic (users, posts, policies) lives in your workspace’s features crate or equivalent; see The Publish workspace for how apps compose those slices.

Umbrella

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs	(always)	Re-exports core + optional surface crates; nest_rs::prelude for the common case	Getting started
nest-rs-core	(via umbrella)	DI container, #[module], lifecycle hooks, boot-time access graph	Fundamentals

Transports

Each transport is a module you import in AppModule. HTTP-shaped surfaces (GraphQL, OpenAPI, MCP, WebSocket gateways) mount on the same HttpTransport — one port, one TLS config.

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-http	http	HTTP transport — controllers, routes, extractors, built on poem	HTTP
nest-rs-graphql	graphql	Resolver discovery, schema composition, async-graphql integration	GraphQL
nest-rs-ws	ws	WebSocket gateways — self-mount on the HTTP transport	WebSockets
nest-rs-openapi	openapi	OpenAPI 3 document + bundled Swagger UI from the route table	OpenAPI
nest-rs-mcp	mcp	Model Context Protocol server over HTTP	MCP

Data

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-database	database	ORM-agnostic executor seam — ambient request/job context any driver implements	Database · Writing a driver
nest-rs-seaorm	seaorm	First-class SeaORM integration — DatabaseModule, Repo, transactions, dataloaders	Database
nest-rs-resource	(direct dep)	#[expose] — one entity declaration for GraphQL + OpenAPI + CRUD helpers	CRUD · Relations
nest-rs-storage	storage	S3-compatible object storage — injectable Storage, presigned URLs, via object_store	Storage

Security

Authentication answers who; authorization answers what they may do. Product-specific strategies and policies live in your features crate — these crates are the engine.

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-authn	authn	JWT service, pluggable Strategy, AuthGuard	Authentication
nest-rs-authz	authz	CASL-style abilities — access gate, row-level filter, response masking	Authorization

Request pipeline

Cross-cutting layers shared across HTTP, GraphQL, and WebSockets. Bind them globally on App::builder() or per controller / resolver / gateway.

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-guards	(direct dep)	The Guard trait — gates access before the handler runs	Guards
nest-rs-pipes	(direct dep)	Stateless input validation and transformation at the edge	Pipes
nest-rs-interceptors	(direct dep)	Wrap handler execution — logging, transactions, ability scope	Interceptors
nest-rs-filters	(direct dep)	Map inner errors to transport responses	Exception filters
nest-rs-exception-filters	(direct dep)	Typed exception filters — catch one concrete error type	Exception filters

Background work

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-queue	queue	Backend-agnostic job contract + #[process] registry	Queue
nest-rs-redis	redis	Redis-backed producer and worker (via apalis)	Queue wiring
nest-rs-schedule	schedule	Cron-style scheduled jobs — #[scheduled] + ScheduleModule	Schedule
nest-rs-events	events	Typed in-process event bus — #[listeners] / #[on_event]	Events
nest-rs-worker	(direct dep)	Ambient job context seam for off-request transports	Queue · Writing a driver

Platform

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-config	config	Namespaced env + file config bound to typed #[config] structs	Configuration
nest-rs-health	health	Kubernetes-style liveness / readiness / startup probes	Health
nest-rs-throttler	throttler	Per-route rate limiting via ThrottlerGuard	Throttler
nest-rs-opentelemetry	opentelemetry	Logs, traces, metrics, W3C propagation, OTLP export	OpenTelemetry
nest-rs-server-timing	server-timing	W3C Server-Timing response header (independent of OTel)	Server-Timing

Developer tools

Crate	Cargo feature	What it is	Docs
nest-rs-cli	(binary: nestrs)	Scaffold workspaces, generate features, project health checks	CLI
nest-rs-testing	testing	In-process harness — boot the real DI graph, drive HTTP/GraphQL/MCP without a socket	Testing

Typical binary profiles

These are composition patterns, not separate crates — they show which packages a deployable usually pulls in.

Binary role	Packages you typically import
REST + OpenAPI API	http, openapi, config, seaorm, authn, authz, health, opentelemetry
GraphQL API	http, graphql, config, seaorm, authn, authz, opentelemetry
WebSocket live service	http, ws, config, seaorm, authn, authz
Queue worker	queue, redis, schedule, seaorm, config, opentelemetry
MCP assistant	http, mcp, config, authn, authz
Token issuer	http, config, seaorm, authn

See The Publish workspace for six real apps that follow these profiles.

Not listed here

Internal macro crates (nest-rs-*-macros, nest-rs-codegen) implement the decorators — you never add them as direct dependencies; the surface crate re-exports what you need. For a decorator index see Decorators.

Your product’s features crate holds domain modules (entities, services, controllers per transport). It is workspace-local and not published to crates.io — copy crates/features/src/users/ as the exemplar.

Adding a crate to your app

List the individual crates the binary needs — this is the real apps/api/Cargo.toml (REST + GraphQL + DB + authz), trimmed to the framework lines:

apps/api/Cargo.toml

[dependencies]
nest-rs-core.workspace = true
nest-rs-config.workspace = true
nest-rs-http.workspace = true
nest-rs-graphql.workspace = true
nest-rs-openapi.workspace = true
nest-rs-seaorm = { workspace = true, features = ["http", "graphql", "health"] }
nest-rs-authn.workspace = true
nest-rs-authz = { workspace = true, features = ["http", "graphql"] }
nest-rs-health.workspace = true
nest-rs-opentelemetry = { workspace = true, features = ["http"] }

In a fresh project outside this workspace, the same line is cargo add nest-rs-<crate> — exactly what each module’s adoption page shows. Then import the matching modules in AppModule — for example HttpModule::for_root(...), DatabaseModule::for_root(...), GraphqlModule, AuthzHttpModule. The Publish workspace and Getting started walk through a full composition.

Prefer one dependency for a quick experiment? The umbrella collapses the list:

[dependencies]
nest-rs = { version = "0.2", features = ["http", "seaorm", "graphql"] }

Same crates underneath; switch to per-crate dependencies when the app hardens.