Para

Para is an open-source, self-hosted backend server and framework designed for object persistence and retrieval. It provides a multitenant infrastructure that handles backend operations to accelerate the development of web and mobile applications. The software can be integrated into existing JVM-based applications or deployed as a standalone API server that supports multiple applications and clients connecting to a single instance.

Deployment options include running as an executable JAR with an embedded Jetty server, using Docker containers, or deploying to Kubernetes via Helm charts. It provides a RESTful JSON API and includes a web console for administrative tasks, as well as a CLI tool for application management. The system is designed to handle the heavy lifting of data storage and retrieval, allowing developers to focus on the frontend and business logic of their projects.

Key features

• RESTful JSON API secured with Amazon Signature V4 algorithm
• Database-agnostic design supporting DynamoDB, Cassandra, and MongoDB
• Full-text search integration with Lucene and Elasticsearch
• Distributed and local object caching via Hazelcast and Caffeine
• Multitenancy where each application maintains its own table, index, and cache
• Stateless client authentication using JSON Web Tokens (JWT)
• Webhooks with signed payloads
• Modular architecture powered by Google Guice with plugin support
• MCP server for AI agent interaction

Built on the JVM, Para utilizes Spring Security for flexible authentication options including LDAP, SAML, and social login. It employs Jackson for advanced serialization and deserialization and Dropwizard for monitoring and diagnostics. The architecture is designed to be stateless, allowing clients written in JavaScript, PHP, Java, C#, Android, or iOS to connect to the backend. It includes a constraint validation mechanism based on JSR-303 and Hibernate Validator to ensure data integrity. The framework also provides I18n utilities for translating language packs and managing currencies, and it supports optimistic locking and transactions implemented natively by each Data Access Object.

Para serves as a backend-as-a-service for developers who require a scalable, multitenant API infrastructure for rapid prototyping and production deployment.