Routing

Learn how to define routes in Laju Framework.

Introduction

Routes define how your application responds to HTTP requests. Laju uses HyperExpress as the underlying HTTP server framework.

Request Flow

HTTP Request → Route → Middleware → Handler → Response

Basic Routing

Routes are defined in routes/web.ts:

import HyperExpress from 'hyper-express';
import PublicHandler from "../app/handlers/public.handler";

const Route = new HyperExpress.Router();

// GET request
Route.get("/", PublicHandler.index);

// POST request
Route.post("/login", AuthHandler.processLogin);

// PUT request
Route.put("/users/:id", UserHandler.update);

// DELETE request
Route.delete("/users/:id", UserHandler.destroy);

export default Route;

HTTP Methods

Route.get("/path", handler);      // GET
Route.post("/path", handler);     // POST
Route.put("/path", handler);      // PUT
Route.patch("/path", handler);    // PATCH
Route.delete("/path", handler);   // DELETE

Route Parameters

URL Parameters

// routes/web.ts
Route.get("/users/:id", UserHandler.show);
Route.get("/posts/:postId/comments/:commentId", CommentHandler.show);

// Handler
export const UserHandler = {
  async show(request: Request, response: Response) {
    const { id } = request.params;
    const user = await DB.selectFrom("users")
      .selectAll()
      .where("id", "=", id)
      .executeTakeFirst();
    return response.json({ user });
  }
};

Query Parameters

// URL: /search?q=hello&page=2

export const SearchHandler = {
  async search(request: Request, response: Response) {
    const { q, page } = request.query;

    const results = await DB.selectFrom("posts")
      .selectAll()
      .where("title", "like", `%${q}%`)
      .limit(10)
      .offset((page - 1) * 10)
      .execute();

    return response.json({ results });
  }
};

Route Middleware

Apply middleware to specific routes:

import Auth from "../app/middlewares/auth.middleware";
import { authRateLimit } from "../app/middlewares/rate-limit.middleware";

// Public routes
Route.get("/", PublicHandler.index);

// Protected routes
Route.get("/home", [Auth], AppHandler.homePage);

// Multiple middleware
Route.post("/api/upload/image", [Auth, uploadRateLimit], UploadHandler.uploadImage);

Handler Pattern

Handlers are implemented as plain JavaScript objects with methods:

// app/handlers/auth.handler.ts
export const AuthHandler = {
  async loginPage(request: Request, response: Response) {
    return response.inertia("auth/login");
  },

  async processLogin(request: Request, response: Response) {
    const body = await request.json();
    // Process login logic
    return response.redirect("/home");
  }
};

export default AuthHandler;

Wildcard Routes

Use * for catch-all paths:

// Serve files from local storage
Route.get("/storage/*", StorageHandler.serveFile);

// Serve public assets
Route.get("/public/*", AssetHandler.publicFolder);

Route Organization

Organize routes by sections in routes/web.ts:

/**
 * Public Routes
 */
Route.get("/", PublicHandler.index);
Route.get("/login", AuthHandler.loginPage);

/**
 * Protected Routes
 */
Route.get("/home", [Auth], AppHandler.homePage);
Route.get("/profile", [Auth], AppHandler.profilePage);

/**
 * API Routes
 */
Route.post("/api/upload/image", [Auth, uploadRateLimit], UploadHandler.uploadImage);

export default Route;

Registering Routes

Routes are registered in server.ts:

import HyperExpress from 'hyper-express';
import Web from "./routes/web";

const webserver = new HyperExpress.Server();
webserver.use(Web);

Available Middleware

Middleware	Purpose	Usage
Auth	Session-based authentication	[Auth]
authRateLimit	Rate limiting for login (5 req/15min)	[authRateLimit]
apiRateLimit	General API rate limiting (100 req/15min)	[apiRateLimit]
uploadRateLimit	File upload limiting (50 req/hour)	[uploadRateLimit]

Next Steps

• Handlers - Learn about request handlers
• Middleware - Learn about middleware