Fastify Hooks Lifecycle

Fastify Hook Lifecycle Reference

You are working with Fastify's hook system. Follow every rule in this document precisely. Violations of the critical rules below cause silent double executions, lost context, and runtime exceptions that are difficult to trace.

General Hook Rules (CRITICAL)

Obey these rules in every hook you write. There are no exceptions.

• NEVER mix async/await with the done callback. If the hook function is declared async, do not accept or call done. If the hook uses done, do not use async or return a Promise. Mixing the two causes double execution of downstream hooks and handlers.
• NEVER use arrow functions as hook handlers. Arrow functions do not bind this, which means you lose access to the Fastify instance context (this is the encapsulating Fastify server). Always use function declarations or expressions.
• When you need to short-circuit the request lifecycle from an async hook, call reply.send() and then return reply. If you forget return reply, Fastify continues executing the remaining lifecycle, resulting in double execution and potential "Reply already sent" errors.
• Hooks can be either global or encapsulated. A hook registered inside a plugin that uses fastify-plugin (which breaks encapsulation) becomes global. A hook registered inside a normal plugin is scoped to that plugin and its children only. Be intentional about which you need.
• Every hook that accepts a done callback MUST call it. Failing to call done hangs the request indefinitely.
• Do not perform heavy synchronous work inside hooks. Fastify is single-threaded; blocking the event loop in a hook blocks all concurrent requests.

Request/Reply Hooks (Execution Order)

These hooks execute in the order listed below for every incoming request. Understand exactly where in the lifecycle each hook fires and what data is available at that point.

1. onRequest

This is the first hook that fires, before any parsing occurs.

• Signature: function (request, reply, done) (or async function (request, reply))
• request.body is UNDEFINED at this point. The request body has not been parsed yet. Do not attempt to read it.
• request.params, request.query, and request.headers ARE available.
• Use this hook for: early authentication checks (e.g., verifying a JWT before doing any work), request logging, IP-based rate limiting, early redirects, and attaching request-scoped metadata.
• To deny a request, call reply.code(401).send({ error: 'Unauthorized' }) and return reply (in async hooks) or call done(error) (in callback hooks).

2. preParsing

This hook fires before the body parsing phase begins.

• Signature: function (request, reply, payload, done) (or async function (request, reply, payload))
• payload is the raw incoming request stream (a Node.js Readable stream). You can replace it with a different stream (e.g., for decompression or decryption).
• request.body is still UNDEFINED. Parsing has not happened yet.
• If you return or pass a new payload via done, it MUST be a stream. You cannot return a plain object or string here.
• When returning a modified stream, you MUST set the receivedEncodedLength property on the new stream to enable proper Content-Length validation. Example: newStream.receivedEncodedLength = oldStream.receivedEncodedLength || 0.
• Use this hook for: decompressing custom encodings, decrypting request bodies, or injecting a proxy stream for request body auditing.

3. preValidation

This hook fires after the body has been parsed but BEFORE JSON Schema validation runs.

• Signature: function (request, reply, done) (or async function (request, reply))
• request.body IS available and contains the parsed body. This is the earliest point where you can read the body.
• Use this hook for: sanitizing or transforming the body before schema validation, injecting default values into the body so they pass schema checks, stripping unexpected fields, or performing custom validation logic that must run before the schema.
• If you modify request.body here, the modified version is what the schema validator will see.

4. preHandler

This hook fires after schema validation succeeds, immediately before your route handler executes.

• Signature: function (request, reply, done) (or async function (request, reply))
• request.body, request.params, and request.querystring are all fully parsed, typed, and schema-validated at this point.
• Use this hook for: authorization and permission checks that depend on the validated request data, loading the authenticated user from the database and attaching it to request.user, checking resource ownership, and performing any pre-handler logic that depends on a fully validated request.
• This is the most common hook for authentication/authorization middleware. If you need to check permissions based on the request body or params, do it here.

5. preSerialization

This hook fires after the route handler returns its payload but before Fastify serializes it to JSON.

• Signature: function (request, reply, payload, done) (or async function (request, reply, payload))
• payload is the JavaScript object returned by your route handler.
• This hook is NOT called if the handler returned a string, Buffer, stream, or null. It only fires for object payloads that need JSON serialization.
• Use this hook for: wrapping all responses in a standard envelope (e.g., { data: payload, meta: { ... } }), adding pagination metadata, or injecting HATEOAS links into response objects.
• Return the modified payload from the async function or pass it as the second argument to done.

6. onError

This hook fires when an exception occurs during the request lifecycle, BEFORE the custom error handler runs.

• Signature: function (request, reply, error, done) (or async function (request, reply, error))
• You CANNOT call reply.send() inside this hook. Doing so throws an exception. The error handler is responsible for sending the response.
• You CANNOT pass an error to done(err) in this hook. Passing an error into the done callback is not supported and will cause undefined behavior.
• Use this hook exclusively for: error telemetry and observability (sending errors to Sentry, Datadog, etc.), audit logging of failures, and incrementing error counters for monitoring.
• If you need to modify the error response, do that in the custom error handler (setErrorHandler), not here.

7. onSend

This hook fires right before the response is written to the socket.

• Signature: function (request, reply, payload, done) (or async function (request, reply, payload))
• payload is the final serialized value (a string or Buffer). If the handler returned a stream, payload is that stream.
• You can modify the payload here, but the replacement MUST be one of: string, Buffer, stream, ReadableStream, Response, or null. You cannot return a plain JavaScript object.
• Use this hook for: setting final response headers (e.g., reply.header('X-Request-Id', id)), replacing or clearing the response payload, compressing the response, or adding security headers.
• If you set the payload to null, ensure the Content-Length header is also removed or set to 0.

8. onResponse

This hook fires after the response has been completely sent to the client.

• Signature: function (request, reply, done) (or async function (request, reply))
• You CANNOT send any data at this point. The HTTP transaction is finished. Calling reply.send() here will throw.
• Use this hook for: recording response time metrics, flushing audit logs, emitting analytics events, and cleaning up request-scoped resources.
• reply.elapsedTime gives you the time in milliseconds since the request started, which is useful for latency metrics.

9. onTimeout

This hook fires when a request exceeds the configured connectionTimeout and the socket is hung up.

• You CANNOT send any data. The connection is already closed.
• Signature: function (request, reply, done) (or async function (request, reply))
• Use this hook for: observability and alerting on slow requests, logging which routes are timing out, and canceling in-progress operations.
• You must configure connectionTimeout on the Fastify instance for this hook to fire.

10. onRequestAbort

This hook fires when the client prematurely closes the connection before the response is sent.

• You CANNOT send any data. The client has disconnected.
• Signature: function (request, reply, done) (or async function (request, reply))
• Use this hook for: aborting expensive in-progress database queries, cleaning up file uploads that were interrupted, releasing held resources, and logging abandoned requests for monitoring.

Application Hooks

These hooks are not tied to individual requests. They fire during server lifecycle events.

onReady

• Fires before the server starts listening for connections (or when fastify.ready() is called explicitly).
• At this point, all plugins are guaranteed to be fully loaded. The plugin tree is finalized.
• You CANNOT register new routes, hooks, or plugins at this point. The server configuration is frozen.
• Signature: function (done) (or async function ()) -- note there is no request or reply.
• Use this hook for: verifying external service connectivity (database ping, cache ping), warming caches, logging startup diagnostics, and running database migrations.

onListen

• Fires when the server starts listening on its configured port.
• Hooks run sequentially in registration order.
• Errors thrown inside this hook are logged but IGNORED. The server continues booting regardless. Do not rely on this hook for critical initialization that must succeed.
• Use this hook for: logging the listening address, notifying a service registry, or triggering post-boot healthcheck pings.

onClose

• Fires when fastify.close() is called, after the server has stopped accepting new connections and all in-flight requests have completed.
• Signature: function (instance, done) (or async function (instance))
• Hooks execute in REVERSE order of registration. Child plugin teardown runs before parent teardown. This ensures dependencies are released in the correct order.
• Use this hook for: closing database connection pools, releasing file handles, flushing buffered logs, disconnecting from message queues, and any graceful shutdown cleanup.

onRoute

• Fires synchronously every time a new route is registered.
• Signature: function (routeOptions) -- there is NO done callback. This is purely synchronous.
• routeOptions contains the full route configuration: method, url, schema, handler, preHandler, etc.
• You can mutate the routeOptions object to dynamically modify routes as they are registered.
• Use this hook for: dynamically injecting hooks into routes based on metadata, building route registries for documentation generators, enforcing naming conventions, and adding default schema properties.

onRegister

• Fires when a new plugin is registered and a new encapsulation context is created.
• Executes BEFORE the plugin code itself runs.
• This hook is NOT triggered for plugins wrapped with fastify-plugin (since fastify-plugin prevents the creation of a new encapsulation context).
• Use this hook for: initializing plugin-scoped state, setting up context-specific decorators, and debugging plugin registration order.

Common Mistakes You Must Enforce Against

When writing or reviewing Fastify hook code, actively check for and prevent these errors:

1. Accessing request.body in onRequest or preParsing: The body is always undefined at these stages. If you need the body, use preValidation or later.
2. Calling reply.send() in onError: This throws an exception. The error handler sends the response, not the onError hook.
3. Sending data in onResponse, onTimeout, or onRequestAbort: The connection is already closed or the response already sent. Any attempt to send data will throw.
4. Using async function AND calling done(): Pick one paradigm. Async functions signal completion by resolving/rejecting the returned promise. Calling done() inside an async function causes the hook to complete twice.
5. Forgetting return reply after reply.send() in async hooks: Without the return, Fastify does not know you are short-circuiting and continues executing the remaining lifecycle.
6. Using arrow functions for hooks: Arrow functions inherit this from the enclosing scope, not the Fastify instance. You lose access to decorators, server config, and other instance properties via this.
7. Returning a non-stream value from preParsing: The return value must be a stream. Returning an object or string will cause an error.
8. Returning a plain object from onSend: The payload at onSend must be a string, Buffer, stream, ReadableStream, Response, or null. Objects are not valid.
9. Forgetting to call done() in callback-style hooks: This hangs the request indefinitely with no error message.
10. Registering routes or hooks inside onReady: The server configuration is frozen at this point. New registrations are silently ignored or throw.

Hook Registration Patterns

When registering hooks, follow these patterns:

// CORRECT: named function, preserves this binding
fastify.addHook('onRequest', function onRequestAuth(request, reply, done) {
  // this === fastify instance
  done()
})

// CORRECT: async without done
fastify.addHook('preHandler', async function preHandlerAuth(request, reply) {
  const user = await this.db.findUser(request.headers.authorization)
  if (!user) {
    reply.code(401).send({ error: 'Unauthorized' })
    return reply  // REQUIRED: signals short-circuit
  }
  request.user = user
})

// WRONG: arrow function loses this
fastify.addHook('onRequest', async (request, reply) => {
  this.log.info('request')  // this is NOT fastify
})

// WRONG: async + done = double execution
fastify.addHook('onRequest', async function (request, reply, done) {
  await someAsyncWork()
  done()  // BUG: promise resolution AND done both signal completion
})

Scoped vs Global Hooks

Understand the encapsulation rules:

• A hook added at the root Fastify instance applies to ALL routes.
• A hook added inside a plugin applies only to routes registered in that plugin and its children.
• If the plugin is wrapped with fastify-plugin, the hook "leaks" to the parent context and behaves as if registered there.
• Use encapsulation intentionally: authentication hooks for a specific API version should be scoped to that version's plugin, not applied globally.