Context

dobs is built on top of a base server that implements middleware using Node’s http module. This means the request and response instances passed to handlers support all features provided by Node http, along with additional custom utilities.

For details on how the context is implemented, refer to the source code.

• Response

• Request

#Request

#req.pathname

Type: string Provides the URL pathname.

console.log(req.pathname);
// "/users/123"

#req.href

Type: string Provides the full URL href.

console.log(req.href);
// "http://localhost:3000/users/123?active=true"

#req.search

Type: URLSearchParams Provides the URL search parameters.

const active = req.search.get("active");
console.log(active);
// "true"

#req.searchString

Type: string Provides the raw search string (without "?").

console.log(req.searchString);
// "active=true&page=4"

#req.query

Type: object Returns the search parameters as a plain object.

console.log(req.query);
// { active: "true", page: "4" }

#req.URL

Type: URL Returns a URL instance built from the incoming request.

console.log(req.URL.hostname); // "localhost"
console.log(req.URL.pathname); // "/users/123"

#req.rawBody

Type: string Provides the raw request body as a string.

server.post("/submit", (req, res) => {
  console.log(req.rawBody);
  // "{ \"message\": \"hello\" }"
  res.send("ok");
});

If you need accurate and structured body parsing (e.g., JSON, form data), use an external middleware such as body-parser.

#Response

The Response object extends Node’s native ServerResponse and provides additional helper methods commonly used in web frameworks. These utilities help you set headers, send data in various formats, and manage response states more easily.

#res.status

Type: (statusCode: number) => this Sets the HTTP status code.

res.status(404).send("Not found");

#res.message

Type: (message: string) => this Sets the HTTP status message.

res.status(400).message("Bad Request").send();

#res.type

Type: (type: string) => this Sets the Content-Type header. Supports file extensions, short names, and full MIME types.

res.type(".json");
res.type("json");
res.type("application/json");

#res.redirect

Type: (url: string) => this Performs a 302 redirect to the given URL.

res.redirect("https://example.com");

#res.set

Type: (field: string | Record<string, any>, value?: any) => this Sets one or multiple response headers.

res.set("foo", "bar");
 
res.set({
  "x-powered-by": "dobs",
  "cache-control": "no-store",
});

#res.get

Type: (field: string) => any Gets the value of a response header.

console.log(res.get("content-type"));

#res.remove

Type: (field: string) => this Removes a header.

res.remove("x-powered-by");

#res.has

Type: (field: string) => boolean Checks if a header is already set.

if (!res.has("content-type")) {
  res.type("text/plain");
}

#res.isWritable

Type: () => boolean Checks whether the response is still writable (not finished or closed).

if (!res.isWritable()) return;
res.send("ok");

#Data Sending Methods

#res.send

Type: (data: any) => void Automatically detects the data type and sends it with the appropriate Content-Type.

Supports: string, Buffer, object, number, etc.

res.send("hello world"); // text
res.send({ ok: true }); // JSON
res.send(Buffer.from("hi")); // binary

If you want to manually control output, use res.end() instead.

#res.text

Type: (data: any) => void Sends raw text with Content-Type: text/plain.

res.text("plain text response");

#res.json

Type: (data: any) => void Sends JSON with Content-Type: application/json.

res.json({ user: "yo", id: 1 });

#res.html

Type: (data: string) => void Sends HTML with Content-Type: text/html.

res.html("<h1>Hello</h1>");

#res.sendFile

Type: (file: string) => void Sends a file from disk.

res.sendFile("./public/index.html");