# Cowboy

HTTP server for Erlang/OTP that provides routing, handlers, WebSocket, HTTP/2 and REST support.


Source: https://findsoftware.frbit.cloud/cowboy/
Last reviewed: 2026-10-26
Listed since: 2026-10-26

## Record

### Links

- home: https://ninenines.eu
- repository: https://github.com/ninenines/cowboy
- docs: https://ninenines.eu/docs/en/cowboy/2.20/guide/
- discord: https://discord.gg/x25nNq2fFE

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: Loïc Hoguin
- maintainerType: unknown
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: 2011
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: web-server
- hosting: elixir
- language: erlang
- runtime: beam
- runtimeMin: beam 27
- basedOn: unknown

### Content

- contentStore: not applicable
- databases: not applicable
- adminUi: not applicable
- headlessApi: not applicable
- templating: not applicable
- i18n: not applicable

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: always-on
- renderingModes: not applicable
- installMethod: Erlang.mk dependency, DEPS = cowboy

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: ISC

### Releases

- currentMajor: 2
- latestReleaseDate: 2026-10-08

### Adoption

- githubStargazers: 7520
- packagistDownloads: not applicable
- npmWeeklyDownloads: not applicable
- contributors: 120
- pluginCount: unknown
- packagistMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- ecosystemsMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- httpArchiveSites: unknown
- wordpressActiveInstalls: unknown
- dependentRepos: unknown
- dependentPackages: unknown

### Sources

- urls: https://ninenines.eu/ (read 2026-10-26)
- urls: https://api.github.com/repos/ninenines/cowboy (read 2026-10-26)
- urls: https://ninenines.eu/docs/en/cowboy/2.20/guide/ (read 2026-10-26)
- maintainer: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/LICENSE (read 2026-10-26)
- language: https://api.github.com/repos/ninenines/cowboy (read 2026-10-26)
- category: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/README.asciidoc (read 2026-10-26)
- runtime: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/doc/src/guide/introduction.asciidoc (read 2026-10-26)
- runtimeMin: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/doc/src/guide/introduction.asciidoc (read 2026-10-26)
- installMethod: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/doc/src/guide/getting_started.asciidoc (read 2026-10-26)
- runsAs: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/doc/src/guide/getting_started.asciidoc (read 2026-10-26)
- license: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/doc/src/guide/introduction.asciidoc (read 2026-10-26)
- license: https://api.github.com/repos/ninenines/cowboy (read 2026-10-26)
- licenseModel: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ninenines/cowboy/master/LICENSE (read 2026-10-26)
- firstRelease: https://api.github.com/repos/ninenines/cowboy/tags (read 2026-10-26)
- currentMajor: https://hex.pm/api/packages/cowboy (read 2026-10-26)
- latestReleaseDate: https://hex.pm/api/packages/cowboy (read 2026-10-26)
- githubStargazers: https://api.github.com/repos/ninenines/cowboy (read 2026-10-26)
- contributors: https://api.github.com/repos/ninenines/cowboy/contributors (read 2026-10-26)

## Notes

Cowboy is an HTTP server for Erlang/OTP that a project adds as a dependency, with routing, handlers, WebSocket, HTTP/2 and REST support. The Erlang.mk build system fetches it through a `DEPS = cowboy` line. The user guide builds the Erlang VM and the application into a release that is started and then serves requests, so a Cowboy application runs as a long-lived process.

## Worth knowing

The README says Cowboy uses Ranch to manage connections, so Ranch is part of the stack; the record does not name Ranch as a parent. The project publishes its versions as Git tags and Hex uploads, not as GitHub releases.

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Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attributes are recorded, never scored; absent means unknown.
Credit, in full: FindSoftware, CC BY 4.0