Refactor lib for better readability

**Feature request**
It would be great to have serialization for middleware.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_serialization` with default `false`.

The issue names middleware serialization and a new enable_serialization configuration option, but no files or tests. Start by locating middleware handling and existing configuration definitions, then trace how middleware is represented during deployments. Done means the option defaults to false and the requested serialization behavior is covered by relevant tests.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.