The Takeoff API is built on Hapi, with a simple composed configuration using Glue that creates the server.
It's run via nodemon, so this listens for changes in code on your local file system.
The setup has been battle tested and works well for rapid development of new features via a plugin system.
The server is fully configurable, but ultimatly replacable with anything such as Express. The idea behind this API is to provide an out-of-the-box, easy to setup API provider.