# Request A Koa `Request` object is an abstraction on top of node's vanilla request object, providing additional functionality that is useful for every day HTTP server development. ## API ### req.header Request header object. ### req.method Request method. ### req.method= Set request method, useful for implementing middleware such as `methodOverride()`. ### req.length Return request Content-Length as a number when present, or `undefined`. ### req.url Get request URL. ### req.url= Set request URL, useful for url rewrites. ### req.path Get request pathname. ### req.path= Set request pathname and retain query-string when present. ### req.querystring Get raw query string void of `?`. ### req.querystring= Set raw query string. ### req.search Get raw query string with the `?`. ### req.search= Set raw query string. ### req.host Get host void of port number when present. Supports `X-Forwarded-Host` when `app.proxy` is __true__, otherwise `Host` is used. ### req.host= Set the `Host` header field to a new value. ### req.type Get request `Content-Type` void of parameters such as "charset". ```js var ct = this.type; // => "image/png" ``` ### res.charset Get request charset when present, or `undefined`: ```js this.charset // => "utf-8" ``` ### req.query Get parsed query-string, returning an empty object when no query-string is present. Note that this getter does _not_ support nested parsing. For example "color=blue&size=small": ```js { color: 'blue', size: 'small' } ``` ### req.query= Set query-string to the given object. Note that this setter does _not_ support nested objects. ```js this.query = { next: '/login' }; ``` ### req.fresh Check if a request cache is "fresh", aka the contents have not changed. This method is for cache negotiation between `If-None-Match` / `ETag`, and `If-Modified-Since` and `Last-Modified`. It should be referenced after setting one or more of these response headers. ```js this.set('ETag', '123'); // cache is ok if (this.fresh) { this.status = 304; return; } // cache is stale // fetch new data this.body = yield db.find('something'); ``` ### req.stale Inverse of `req.fresh`. ### req.protocol Return request protocol, "https" or "http". Supports `X-Forwarded-Proto` when `app.proxy` is __true__. ### req.secure Shorthand for `this.protocol == "https"` to check if a request was issued via TLS. ### req.ip Request remote address. Supports `X-Forwarded-For` when `app.proxy` is __true__. ### req.ips When `X-Forwarded-For` is present and `app.proxy` is enabled an array of these ips is returned, ordered from upstream -> downstream. When disabled an empty array is returned. ### req.subdomains Return subdomains as an array. Subdomains are the dot-separated parts of the host before the main domain of the app. By default, the domain of the app is assumed to be the last two parts of the host. This can be changed by setting `app.subdomainOffset`. For example, if the domain is "tobi.ferrets.example.com": If `app.subdomainOffset` is not set, this.subdomains is `["ferrets", "tobi"]`. If `app.subdomainOffset` is 3, this.subdomains is `["tobi"]`. ### req.is(type) Check if the incoming request contains the "Content-Type" header field, and it contains any of the give mime `type`s. If there is no request body, `undefined` is returned. If there is no content type, or the match fails `false` is returned. Otherwise, it returns the matching content-type. ```js // With Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 this.is('html'); // => 'html' this.is('text/html'); // => 'text/html' this.is('text/*', 'text/html'); // => 'text/html' // When Content-Type is application/json this.is('json', 'urlencoded'); // => 'json' this.is('application/json'); // => 'application/json' this.is('html', 'application/*'); // => 'application/json' this.is('html'); // => false ``` For example if you want to ensure that only images are sent to a given route: ```js if (this.is('image/*')) { // process } else { this.throw(415, 'images only!'); } ``` ### Content Negotiation Koa's `request` object includes helpful content negotiation utilities powered by [accepts](http://github.com/expressjs/accepts) and [negotiator](https://github.com/federomero/negotiator). These utilities are: - `req.accepts(types)` - `req.acceptsEncodings(types)` - `req.acceptsCharsets(charsets)` - `req.acceptsLanguages(langs)` If no types are supplied, __all__ acceptable types are returned. If multiple types are supplied, the best match will be returned. If no matches are found, a `false` is returned, and you should send a `406 "Not Acceptable"` response to the client. In the case of missing accept headers where any type is acceptable, the first type will be returned. Thus, the order of types you supply is important. ### req.accepts(types) Check if the given `type(s)` is acceptable, returning the best match when true, otherwise `false`. The `type` value may be one or more mime type string such as "application/json", the extension name such as "json", or an array `["json", "html", "text/plain"]`. ```js // Accept: text/html this.accepts('html'); // => "html" // Accept: text/*, application/json this.accepts('html'); // => "html" this.accepts('text/html'); // => "text/html" this.accepts('json', 'text'); // => "json" this.accepts('application/json'); // => "application/json" // Accept: text/*, application/json this.accepts('image/png'); this.accepts('png'); // => false // Accept: text/*;q=.5, application/json this.accepts(['html', 'json']); this.accepts('html', 'json'); // => "json" // No Accept header this.accepts('html', 'json'); // => "html" this.accepts('json', 'html'); // => "json" ``` You may call `this.accepts()` as may times as you like, or use a switch: ```js switch (this.accepts('json', 'html', 'text')) { case 'json': break; case 'html': break; case 'text': break; default: this.throw(406, 'json, html, or text only'); } ``` ### req.acceptsEncodings(encodings) Check if `encodings` are acceptable, returning the best match when true, otherwise `false`. Note that you should include `identity` as one of the encodings! ```js // Accept-Encoding: gzip this.acceptsEncodings('gzip', 'deflate', 'identity'); // => "gzip" this.acceptsEncodings(['gzip', 'deflate', 'identity']); // => "gzip" ``` When no arguments are given all accepted encodings are returned as an array: ```js // Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate this.acceptsEncodings(); // => ["gzip", "deflate", "identity"] ``` Note that the `identity` encoding (which means no encoding) could be unacceptable if the client explicitly sends `identity;q=0`. Although this is an edge case, you should still handle the case where this method returns `false`. ### req.acceptsCharsets(charsets) Check if `charsets` are acceptable, returning the best match when true, otherwise `false`. ```js // Accept-Charset: utf-8, iso-8859-1;q=0.2, utf-7;q=0.5 this.acceptsCharsets('utf-8', 'utf-7'); // => "utf-8" this.acceptsCharsets(['utf-7', 'utf-8']); // => "utf-8" ``` When no arguments are given all accepted charsets are returned as an array: ```js // Accept-Charset: utf-8, iso-8859-1;q=0.2, utf-7;q=0.5 this.acceptsCharsets(); // => ["utf-8", "utf-7", "iso-8859-1"] ``` ### req.acceptsLanguages(langs) Check if `langs` are acceptable, returning the best match when true, otherwise `false`. ```js // Accept-Language: en;q=0.8, es, pt this.acceptsLanguages('es', 'en'); // => "es" this.acceptsLanguages(['en', 'es']); // => "es" ``` When no arguments are given all accepted languages are returned as an array: ```js // Accept-Language: en;q=0.8, es, pt this.acceptsLanguages(); // => ["es", "pt", "en"] ``` ### req.idempotent Check if the request is idempotent. ### req.socket Return the request socket. ### req.get(field) Return request header.