I've been building Kiren, a lightweight JavaScript runtime targeting IoT and edge devices.
The problem: Node.js (~100MB), Deno (~100MB), and Bun (~90MB) are too large for constrained environments like Raspberry Pi Zero, routers, or embedded gateways.
Kiren is ~4MB. Single binary. No dependencies.
What it has: - HTTP server & client (fetch) - WebSocket with rooms - SQLite built-in - Express-compatible API - ES Module support - Bundle to standalone executable
Just added: Edge runtime (Cloudflare Workers-style API, self-hosted)
Tech stack: Zig + QuickJS
It's not trying to replace Node.js for web apps. The focus is devices where every MB matters.
Would love feedback from anyone working on IoT/embedded. What APIs would be most useful?
GitHub: https://github.com/kirencore/kiren
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