Koa Advanced Patterns

Koa.js Professional Standards

Middleware Architecture

1. The Async Promise Chain: ALWAYS declare middleware as async (ctx, next) => { ... }.
2. Await Next: You MUST await next() exactly once in every middleware.
3. Execution Order: Code before await next() handles the Request; code after handles the Response.

Reliability & Ops

1. Graceful Shutdown: Do not kill the server instantly. Listen for system signals (SIGTERM, SIGINT).
   • Pattern: Stop accepting new requests -> Close database connections -> Exit process.
   • Example: server.close(() => db.disconnect()).
2. Health Checks: Always implement a /health endpoint for load balancers (return 200 OK if DB is connected).

Context (ctx) Mastery

1. State Management: Use ctx.state to pass data between middleware (e.g., ctx.state.user). NEVER pollute the global namespace.
2. Request Data: Access via ctx.request.body, ctx.query, or ctx.params.
3. Response Construction: Explicitly set ctx.status before setting ctx.body.

Security Best Practices

1. Error Handling: Implement a top-level app.on('error', ...) listener and a generic try/catch middleware. Never crash the process on a request error.
2. Headers: Use koa-helmet for standard security headers.
3. Cookies: Always sign cookies using ctx.cookies.set(name, val, { signed: true }) and a secure app.keys.

Routing

1. Router Organization: Use koa-router (or @koa/router).
2. Prefixing: Group routes by domain (e.g., const usersRouter = new Router({ prefix: '/users' })).