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Suvidha handlers are essential for customizing request processing. They handle validation, responses, and more. All handlers receive a Conn object, which contains the following:
  • req: An extended Express’ Request object, which includes the context. property for accessing request-specific data added by middlewares.
  • res: The standard Express Response object.
/**
 * CtxRequest adds context to the Express' Request object
 * CtxRequest<Context, Params, ResBody, ReqBody, ReqQuery>,
 * Request<            Params, ResBody, ReqBody, ReqQuery>
 */
export type Conn<T extends Context, ...> = {
    req: CtxRequest<T, ...>;
    res: Response;
};

class Suvidha {
    constructor(handlers: Handlers);
}
The Suvidha constructor takes any object that implements the Handlers interface, which is defined as follows: 
export interface Handlers {
    onErr(err: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction): Promise<void> | void;
    onSchemaErr(
        err: ZodError,
        conn: Conn,
        next: NextFunction,
    ): Promise<void> | void;
    onComplete(
        output: unknown,
        conn: Conn,
        next: NextFunction,
    ): Promise<void> | void;
    onPostResponse(
        outputOrErr: unknown,
        conn: Conn,
        next: NextFunction,
    ): Promise<void> | void;
}

​
Understanding the Handlers

Here’s a breakdown of each handler: 
interface Handlers {
    onSchemaErr(
        err: ZodError,
        conn: Conn,
        next: NextFunction,
    ): Promise<void> | void;
    // ... other handlers
}
Responsibilities:
  • Handles Zod schema validation failures gracefully.
  • Typically sends an appropriate error response.
  • It can call next(err) to delegate error handling to Express’ default error handler or other middleware.
Trigger Conditions:
  • This is called when a Zod schema validation fails (e.g., when the request body, query parameters, or path parameters do not match the defined schema).
Arguments:
  • err: The ZodError object containing details about the validation failure.
  • conn: The Conn object containing the request (conn.req) and response (conn.res) objects.
  • next: The Express’ next function.
Example implementation:
class CustomHandlers implements Handlers {
    onSchemaErr(err: ZodError, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        console.error("Schema validation failed:", err.errors); // Log the errors
        conn.res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid request data" }); // Send a 400 response
    }

    // ... other handlers
}

interface Handlers {
    onErr(err: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction): Promise<void> | void;
    // ... other handlers
}
Responsibilities:
  • Handle errors that occur before a response has been sent.
  • Can log the error, send an error response, or pass the error to Express’s default error handler using next(err).
Trigger Conditions:
  • Called when an error is thrown during middleware or request handler execution before any part of the response has been sent (headers or body).
Arguments:
  • err: This can be of any type, depending on what caused the error.
  • conn: The Conn object containing the request and response objects.
  • next: The Express next function.
Example implementation:
class CustomHandlers implements Handlers {
    onErr(err: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        console.error("An error occurred:", err);
        conn.res.status(500).json({ error: "Internal server error" }); // Or call next(err)
    }

    // ... other handlers
}

interface Handlers {
    onComplete(
        output: unknown,
        conn: Conn,
        next: NextFunction,
    ): Promise<void> | void;
    // ... other handlers
}
Responsibilities:
  • Handles the successful completion of the request handler function when a response has not already been sent.
  • Typically send the successful response based on the output from the request handler.
Trigger Conditions:
  • This is called when the request handler function executes successfully and no part of the response (headers or body) has been sent yet.
Arguments:
  • output: The value returned by the request handler function. This can be of any type.
  • conn: The Conn object containing the request and response objects.
  • next: The Express next function. While available, it’s typically not needed in onComplete.
Example implementation:
class CustomHandlers implements Handlers {
    onComplete(output: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        conn.res.json(output); // Send the output as JSON
    }

    // ... other handlers
}

interface Handlers {
    onPostResponse(
        outputOrErr: unknown,
        conn: Conn,
        next: NextFunction,
    ): Promise<void> | void;
    // ... other handlers
}
Responsibilities:
  • Handles anything that happens after a response has been initiated (headers sent). This includes both errors and returned values.
  • Log errors that occur after the response has begun.
  • Handles the (usually unintentional) scenario where the request handler returns a value after sending a response.
Trigger Conditions:
Methods such as res.send() and res.json(), or any other method that sends headers or a body, are considered equivalent and indicate that the response has been initiated.
  • This is called when something happens after a response has started (headers sent). This can be:
    • Errors thrown by middleware after using conn.res.send().
    • Errors thrown by the request handler after using res.send().
    • The request handler returning a value after using res.send(). (This is primarily for bug detection).
Arguments:
  • outputOrErr: Either the error object (if an error occurred) or the returned value from the request handler (if the request handler returned a value after sending the response). The type will be unknown.
  • conn: The Conn object containing the request and response objects.
  • next: The Express next function. While available, it’s typically not needed in onPostResponse.
It’s important to note:
  • If the request handler throws an error before sending a response, onErr is called, not onPostResponse.
  • If middleware sends a response, the request handler will not be executed. Any errors thrown by the middleware after sending the response are caught by onPostResponse.
Example implementation:
class CustomHandlers implements Handlers {
    onPostResponse(outputOrErr: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        if (outputOrErr instanceof Error) {
            // Check if it's an error
            console.error("Error after response:", outputOrErr);
            // Log the error or perform cleanup tasks.
        } else {
            console.warn(
                "Request handler returned value after sending response:",
                outputOrErr,
            );
            // This is usually a bug. Log it and possibly take corrective action.
        }
    }
    // ... other handlers
}
Example Implementation 
class CustomHandlers implements Handlers {
    onSchemaErr(err: ZodError, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        console.error("Schema validation failed:", err.errors); // Log the errors
        conn.res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid request data" }); // Send a 400 response
    }

    onErr(err: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        console.error("An error occurred:", err);
        conn.res.status(500).json({ error: "Internal server error" }); // Or call next(err)
    }

    onComplete(output: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        conn.res.json(output); // Send the output as JSON
    }

    onPostResponse(outputOrErr: unknown, conn: Conn, next: NextFunction) {
        if (outputOrErr instanceof Error) {
            // Check if it's an error
            console.error("Error after response:", outputOrErr);
            // You might not be able to send a *new* response here.
            // Log the error or perform cleanup tasks.
        } else {
            console.warn(
                "Request handler returned value after sending response:",
                outputOrErr,
            );
            // This is usually a bug. Log it and possibly take corrective action.
        }
    }
}

// Creating a Suvidha instance with custom handlers
const suvidha = () => new Suvidha(new CustomHandlers());

app.get(
    "/reports",
    suvidha().handler((req) => {
        // Business logic
    }),
);
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