Request

The Request object provides access to incoming HTTP request data.

Overview

The Request object is the first parameter passed to every handler function. It provides access to all incoming request data including headers, body, query parameters, path parameters, and more.

export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  // Access request data via req object
  const method = req.method;
  const url = req.url;
  const body = req.body;
};

Properties

req.method

The HTTP method of the request.

const method: string = req.method; // 'GET', 'POST', 'PUT', etc.

req.url

The full request URL.

const url: string = req.url; // '/users/123?sort=desc'

req.headers

HTTP request headers as a key-value object.

const headers: Record<string, string> = req.headers;
const contentType = req.headers['content-type'];
const auth = req.headers['authorization'];

req.params

URL path parameters extracted from the route pattern.

// Route: GET /users/:id
export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const userId = req.params.id; // '123' from /users/123
};

req.query

Query string parameters parsed as an object.

// URL: /search?q=gati&limit=10
export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const searchTerm = req.query.q;      // 'gati'
  const limit = req.query.limit;        // '10'
};

req.body

Parsed request body. Automatically parsed based on Content-Type.

// JSON body
export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const { email, password } = req.body;
};

Supported content types:

• application/json - Parsed as JSON object
• application/x-www-form-urlencoded - Parsed as form data
• text/plain - Raw text string
• multipart/form-data - Form data with files

req.cookies

Request cookies parsed as an object.

const cookies: Record<string, string> = req.cookies;
const sessionId = req.cookies.sessionId;

Examples

Accessing Headers

export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const token = req.headers['authorization']?.split(' ')[1];
  
  if (!token) {
    res.status(401).json({ error: 'Unauthorized' });
    return;
  }
  
  // Verify token...
};

Using Query Parameters

export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const page = parseInt(req.query.page || '1');
  const limit = parseInt(req.query.limit || '10');
  
  const offset = (page - 1) * limit;
  
  res.json({ page, limit, offset });
};

Processing Request Body

export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const { title, content, tags } = req.body;
  
  // Validation
  if (!title || !content) {
    res.status(400).json({ error: 'Missing required fields' });
    return;
  }
  
  // Process...
};

Working with Path Parameters

// Route: GET /users/:userId/posts/:postId
export const handler: Handler = (req, res) => {
  const { userId, postId } = req.params;
  
  res.json({ 
    message: `Fetching post ${postId} for user ${userId}` 
  });
};

Type-Safe Request Handling

import { z } from 'zod';

const CreatePostSchema = z.object({
  title: z.string().min(1).max(200),
  content: z.string().min(1),
  tags: z.array(z.string()).optional(),
});

export const handler: Handler = async (req, res, gctx, lctx) => {
  const result = CreatePostSchema.safeParse(req.body);
  
  if (!result.success) {
    res.status(400).json({ 
      error: 'Validation failed',
      details: result.error.errors 
    });
    return;
  }
  
  const post = await createPost(result.data);
  res.status(201).json({ post });
};

Related

• Handler API - Handler function signature
• Response API - Sending responses
• Context API - Global and local context
• Error Handling - Error patterns