Middlewares

Middlewares in Nova are functions that run before the route handler. They can be applied globally, at the controller level, or at the method level.

Middleware Signature

type middlewareFn = (req: NovaRequest, reply: NovaResponse) => Promise<void> | void;

Levels of Middleware

1. Global Middleware — app.use()

Runs before every route handler in the application.

const app = await NovaFactory.create();

app.use(async (req, reply) => {
  console.log(`[${new Date().toISOString()}] ${req.method} ${req.url}`);
});

2. Controller Middleware — @Middleware() on class

Runs before all route handlers in the controller.

import { Middleware, Controller } from '@abrahambass/nova';

const logMiddleware = async (req, reply) => {
  console.log('Controller middleware');
};

@Middleware(logMiddleware)
@Controller('/users')
class UserController { ... }

3. Method Middleware — @Middleware() on method

Runs before a specific route handler.

const validateAdmin = async (req, reply) => {
  if (!req.user?.isAdmin) {
    reply.status(403).send({ detail: 'Forbidden' });
  }
};

@Controller('/admin')
class AdminController {

  @Middleware(validateAdmin)
  @Delet('/:id')
  async deleteUser() { ... }
}

Execution Order

Middlewares execute in this order:

1. Global middlewares (via app.use())
2. Controller-level middlewares (via @Middleware() on class)
3. Method-level middlewares (via @Middleware() on method)
4. Auth guard (if @RequiresAuth() is present)
5. Route handler