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core-conceptsContext Request

Last Updated: 3/11/2026

Context & Request

The Context object (c) is created for each request and provides methods to handle requests and build responses.

Request Object (c.req)

c.req is a HonoRequest instance that provides methods to access request data.

Headers

app.get('/hello', (c) => {
  const userAgent = c.req.header('User-Agent')
  return c.text(`Your UA: ${userAgent}`)
})

Path Parameters

app.get('/user/:name', (c) => {
  const name = c.req.param('name')
  return c.text(`Hello, ${name}!`)
})
 
// Get all parameters
app.get('/posts/:id/comment/:comment_id', (c) => {
  const { id, comment_id } = c.req.param()
  return c.json({ id, comment_id })
})

Query Parameters

app.get('/search', (c) => {
  const query = c.req.query('q')
  const page = c.req.query('page') || '1'
  return c.json({ query, page })
})

Request Body

// JSON body
app.post('/api/data', async (c) => {
  const body = await c.req.json()
  return c.json({ received: body })
})
 
// Form data
app.post('/submit', async (c) => {
  const body = await c.req.parseBody()
  return c.json({ received: body })
})
 
// Text body
app.post('/text', async (c) => {
  const text = await c.req.text()
  return c.text(`You sent: ${text}`)
})

Response Methods

Text Response

Return plain text with Content-Type: text/plain:

app.get('/say', (c) => {
  return c.text('Hello!')
})

JSON Response

Return JSON with Content-Type: application/json:

app.get('/api', (c) => {
  return c.json({ message: 'Hello!' })
})

HTML Response

Return HTML with Content-Type: text/html:

app.get('/', (c) => {
  return c.html('<h1>Hello! Hono!</h1>')
})

Raw Body

Return a raw response body:

app.get('/welcome', (c) => {
  return c.body('Thank you for coming')
})
 
// With status and headers
app.get('/welcome', (c) => {
  return c.body('Thank you', 201, {
    'X-Message': 'Hello!',
    'Content-Type': 'text/plain',
  })
})

Setting Status and Headers

Status Code

app.post('/posts', (c) => {
  c.status(201)
  return c.text('Your post is created!')
})

Headers

app.get('/', (c) => {
  c.header('X-Message', 'My custom message')
  c.header('X-Response-Time', '42ms')
  return c.text('Hello!')
})

Redirects

Redirect to another URL (default status: 302):

app.get('/redirect', (c) => {
  return c.redirect('/')
})
 
app.get('/redirect-permanently', (c) => {
  return c.redirect('/', 301)
})

Not Found

Return a 404 response:

app.get('/notfound', (c) => {
  return c.notFound()
})

Variables (c.set / c.get)

Pass values between middleware and handlers:

type Variables = {
  message: string
}
 
const app = new Hono<{ Variables: Variables }>()
 
app.use(async (c, next) => {
  c.set('message', 'Hono is cool!!')
  await next()
})
 
app.get('/', (c) => {
  const message = c.get('message')
  return c.text(`The message is "${message}"`)
})

Access variables with c.var:

app.get('/', (c) => {
  const message = c.var.message
  return c.text(message)
})

Rendering (c.setRenderer / c.render)

Set a layout in middleware:

app.use(async (c, next) => {
  c.setRenderer((content) => {
    return c.html(
      <html>
        <body>
          <p>{content}</p>
        </body>
      </html>
    )
  })
  await next()
})

Render content using the layout:

app.get('/', (c) => {
  return c.render('Hello!')
})

Platform-Specific Features

Cloudflare Workers

Access bindings via c.env:

type Bindings = {
  MY_KV: KVNamespace
  USERNAME: string
}
 
const app = new Hono<{ Bindings: Bindings }>()
 
app.get('/', async (c) => {
  const value = await c.env.MY_KV.get('my-key')
  return c.json({ value })
})

Access ExecutionContext:

app.get('/foo', async (c) => {
  c.executionCtx.waitUntil(
    c.env.MY_KV.put('key', 'value')
  )
  return c.text('Done')
})

Node.js

Access raw Node.js APIs:

import { serve, type HttpBindings } from '@hono/node-server'
 
type Bindings = HttpBindings
 
const app = new Hono<{ Bindings: Bindings }>()
 
app.get('/', (c) => {
  return c.json({
    remoteAddress: c.env.incoming.socket.remoteAddress,
  })
})

Error Handling

Access errors in middleware:

app.use(async (c, next) => {
  await next()
  if (c.error) {
    console.error('Error occurred:', c.error)
  }
})

Next Steps

Learn about Middleware to add functionality across your routes.

MiddlewareRouting