@httpx/exceptionGetting started

HTTP status errors with default message, instanceof, stack and nested error cause support. Lightweight, typical usage between 500b and 1300b. Includes convenience typeguards, optional contextual info and a built-in serializer to cover cross-environments challenges (RSC, SSR…).

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Quick start

yarn add @httpx/exception

Features

Usage

By named imports

Explicit named imports are prefixed by Http to ease IDE experience. Message is optional and default to the default message. Additional parameters are supported.

import {
  HttpNotFound,
  HttpBadRequest,
} from "@httpx/exception";
 
const e = new HttpNotFound();
// 👉 e.message     -> 'Not found' (default message)
// 👉 e.statusCode  -> 404
// 👉 -> e instanceof HttpNotFound (and HttpClientException, HttpException and Error)
 
const e400 = new HttpBadRequest("Problems parsing JSON");
// 👉 e.message     -> 'Problems parsing JSON'
// ...

By status code

The createHttpException function allows to create an exception from an arbitrary status code.

import { createHttpException } from "@httpx/exception";
 
const e404 = createHttpException(404); // e404 instanceof HttpClientException
const e500 = createHttpException(500); // e500 instanceof HttpServerException

Additional parameters can be provided as a second argument.

import { createHttpException, HttpNotImplemented } from "@httpx/exception";
 
throw createHttpException(404, "The graal is yet to find !");
 
const e500 = createHttpException(500, {
  message: "Something really wrong happened.",
  url: "https://api.dev/gateway",
  cause: new HttpNotImplemented(), // or any Error...
});

Parameters

Http exceptions and createHttpException accept a parameter of type string | HttpExceptionParams. If no parameter is provided the default message is used.

Error context

It’s possible to attach informational context to an exception. This is particularly useful when used with centralized logging / error reporting.

HttpExceptionParamsTypeDescription
messagestring?Error.message, see about default message.
urlstring?Origin url.
methodHttpMethod?Origin http method.
codestring?Custom error code (not to be confused with statusCode).
errorIdstring?Unique custom error id.
causeError?Error.cause, see also about nested errors.
issuesValidationIssues[]?Only supported by HttpUnprocessableEntity (422)

Example:

import { HttpGatewayTimeout, HttpInternalServerError } from "@httpx/exception";
 
const e500 = new HttpInternalServerError({
  url: "https://api.dev/gateway",
  method: "GET",
  code: "ERR_UNREACHABLE_SERVICE",
  errorId: nanoid(),
  // 👉 nesting
  cause: new HttpGatewayTimeout({
    message: "This Serverless Function has timed out",
    errorId: "cdg1::h99k2-1664884491087-b41a2832f559",
  }),
});

Properties

All parameters are exposed as properties.

HttpExceptionParamsTypeDescription
statusCodenumberHttp error status code (400-599).
messagestringDefault or provided message.
urlstring?Origin url..
methodHttpMethod?Origin http method.
codestring?Custom error code (not to be confused with statusCode).
errorIdstring?Unique custom error id.
stackstring?@see Error.prototype.stack on MDN.
causeError?@see about error cause
issuesHttpValidationIssues[]?Only supported by HttpUnprocessableEntity (422)
import { HttpUnprocessableEntity } from "@httpx/exception";
 
const e422 = new HttpUnprocessableEntity({
  message: "Request validation failed",
  url: "https://acme.org/api/user/create",
  method: "POST",
  issues: [
    // typed as HttpValidationIssues[]
    {
      message: "Invalid address",
      path: ["addresses", 0, "line1"],
      code: "empty_string",
    },
  ],
});
 
// 👉 e422.issues
// 👉 e422.method === 'POST'
// ...

Nested errors

When creating a http exception, it’s possible to attach the original error to the native Error.cause property.

const e = new HttpBadRequest({
  // 👉 nesting
  cause: new TypeError({
    message: "Param validation failed",
    // 👉 nesting: multiple levels are supported
    cause: new NoSuchUser("User id is invalid"),
  }),
});

Error cause is supported by >93% of browsers as of 12/2023. NodeJs supports it since 16.17. Nested cause will simply be discarded if not supported (no runtime error). The error-cause-polyfill can be installed if not provided already by your framework.

Static members

All exceptions have a static STATUS readonly property.

import { createHttpException, HttpMethodNotAllowed } from "@httpx/exception";
 
const { statusCode } = createHttpException(405);
switch (statusCode) {
  case HttpMethodNotAllowed.STATUS:
    console.log(statusCode); // 👉 405
    break;
}

Instanceof checks

Http exceptions extends the native Error class through HttpException and either HttpServerException and HttpClientException.

import { createHttpException } from "@httpx/exception";
 
const e404 = createHttpException(404);
// 👉 e instanceof Error === true
// 👉 e instanceof HttpException === true
// 👉 e instanceof HttpClientException === true
// 👉 e instanceof HttpNotFound === true
// 👉 e instanceof HttpServerException === false

Class diagram

Typeguards

Instanceof alternatives

While the usage of instanceof is preferred, the isHttpException, isHttpClientException and isServerException can be used in place. They will check for instance and will also ensure that the associated statusCode is actually valid.

import {
  isHttpException,
  isHttpClientException,
  isHttpServerException,
} from "@httpx/exception";
 
// True
isHttpException(new HttpNotFound());
isHttpClientException(new HttpNotFound());
isHttpServerException(new HttpInternalServerError());
 
// False
isHttpClientException(new HttpInternalServerError());
isHttpServerException(new HttpNotFound());
isHttpException(new Error());
isHttpServerException(
  new (class extends HttpServerException {
    constructor() {
      super(400); // 400 isn't a server exception
    }
  })()
);

isHttpErrorStatusCode

import { isHttpErrorStatusCode } from "@httpx/exception";
 
// True
isHttpErrorStatusCode(404);
// False
isHttpErrorStatusCode(200);

Serializer

Exceptions can be (de-)serialized to json or other formats. Use cases varies from ssr-frameworks (ie: nextjs getServerSideProps) / loggers (sentry, winston…).

Nested error causes are supported but ignored if not supported by the runtime.

Additionally, you can pass any native errors (Error, EvalError, RangeError, ReferenceError, SyntaxError, TypeError, URIError) as well as a custom one (the later will be transformed to the base type Error).

⚠️ Since v3.0.0:

For security reasons stack traces won’t be serialized anymore by default as they might contain sensitive information in production. To opt-in selectively for stack traces serialization (ie: development or logging) convertToSerializable, createFromSerializable, toJson and fromJson functions accepts a SerializerParams.includeStack param as second argument.

JSON

import { fromJson, toJson } from "@httpx/exception/serializer";
 
const e = new HttpForbidden();
 
const json = toJson(e); // string
const deserialized = fromJson(json);
 
// e === deserialized

Tip See also how to integrate with superjson

Example for stack traces serialization.
import { fromJson, toJson } from "@httpx/exception/serializer";
 
// To include stack traces (not safe in production)
const jsonWithStack = toJson(new HttpException(500), {
  includeStack: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
});
 
const eWithStrack = fromJson(json, {
  includeStack: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
});

Serializable

Same as JSON but before json.parse/stringify. Allows to use a different encoder.

import {
  convertToSerializable,
  createFromSerializable,
} from "@httpx/exception/serializer";
 
const e = new HttpForbidden({
  cause: new Error("Token was revoked"),
});
 
const serializableObject = convertToSerializable(e);
const deserialized = createFromSerializable(serializableObject);
// e === deserialized
Example for stack traces serialization.
import {
  convertToSerializable,
  createFromSerializable,
} from "@httpx/exception/serializer";
 
const serializableObject = convertToSerializable(e, {
  includeStack: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
});
const deserialized = createFromSerializable(serializableObject, {
  includeStack: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
});

Default messages

Messages are inferred from the Http exception class name. They are compatible with the popular statuses package.

StatusClassMessage
400HttpBadRequestBad request
401HttpUnauthorizedUnauthorized
402HttpPaymentRequiredPayment required
403HttpForbiddenForbidden
404HttpNotFoundNot found
405HttpMethodNotAllowedMethod not allowed
406HttpNotAcceptableNot acceptable
407HttpProxyAuthenticationRequired
408HttpRequestTimeout
409HttpConflict
410HttpGone
411HttpLengthRequired
412HttpPreConditionFailed
413HttpPayloadTooLarge
414HttpUriTooLong
415HttpUnsupportedMediaType
416HttpRangeNotSatisfiable
417HttpExpectationFailed
418HttpImATeapot
421HttpMisdirectedRequest
422HttpUnprocessableEntity
423HttpLocked
424HttpFailedDependency
425HttpTooEarly
426HttpUpgradeRequired
428HttpPreconditionFailed
429HttpTooManyRequests
431HttpRequestHeaderFieldsTooLarge
451HttpUnavailableForLegalReasons

Server http status error code

StatusClassMessage
500HttpInternalServerErrorInternal server error
501HttpNotImplemented
502HttpBadGateway
503HttpServiceUnavailable
504HttpGatewayTimeout
505HttpVersionNotSupported
506HttpVariantAlsoNegotiates
507HttpInsufficientStorage
508HttpLoopDetected
510HttpNotExtended
511HttpNetwordAuthenticationRequired

Non-official status codes

While their usage is not recommended, some status codes might be found in the wild (generally server status codes).

import { createHttpException, HttpServerException } from "@httpx/exception";
 
const nonOfficialStatusCodes = [
  [509, "Might refer to bandwidth limit"],
  [525, "Might refer to SSL Handshake Failed (ie: cloudflare)"],
  [526, "Might refer to Invalid SSL Certificate (ie: cloudflare)"],
  ["...", "..."],
];
 
const e = createHttpException(509, {
  message: "Bandwidth limit exceeded",
  // ... others properties
});
 
// e instanceof HttpServerException
 
// alternatively
const alternate = new HttpServerException({
  statusCode: 509,
  message: "Bandwidth limit exceeded",
  // ... others properties
});

Helpers

isErrorWithErrorStatusCode

This typeguard is based on a convention and might help to convert a native error to a specific HttpException.

import {
  isErrorWithErrorStatusCode,
  createHttpException,
  type isErrorWithErrorStatusCode
} from "@httpx/exception";
 
try {
  throw new (class extends Error {
    statusCode = 400; // <- by convention
  })();
} catch (e) {
  // will check if the value is an Error and that there's a statusCode is >=400 && <600
  if (isErrorWithErrorStatusCode(e)) {
    throw createHttpException(e.statusCode, e.message);
  }
}

isObjectWithErrorStatusCode

This typeguard is based on a convention and might help to convert an object to a specific HttpException.

import {
  isObjectWithErrorStatusCode,
  createHttpException,
  type ObjectWithErrorStatusCode,
} from "@httpx/exception";
 
const noSuchUser = {
  statusCode: 404,
} satisfies ObjectWithErrorStatusCode;
 
class NoSuchItem extends DomainError implements ObjectWithErrorStatusCode {
  statusCode = 404;
}
 
if (isObjectWithErrorStatusCode(noSuchUser)) {
  throw createHttpException(e.statusCode, "Nothing");
}

About bundle

Compatibility

LevelCIDescription
NodeCI for 18.x, 20.x & 22.x.
Browsers> 93% on 12/2023. Chrome 96+, Firefox 90+, Edge 19+, ios 15+, Safari 15+ and Opera 77+
EdgeEnsured on CI with @vercel/edge-runtime.
TypescriptTS 4.7+ / are-the-type-wrong checks on CI.
ES2022Dist files checked with es-check

For older browsers:

  • 👉 Most frontend frameworks can transpile the library (ie: nextjs…)
  • 👉 You might want to add the error-cause-polyfill to support nested errors (if not present they are simply discarded - no runtime errors).

Bundle size

Code and bundler have been tuned to target a minimal compressed footprint for the browser. In ESM, typical usage the bundle size will vary between 500b to 1300b compressed (including default messages for the 43 status codes).

ESM individual imports are tracked by a size-limit configuration.

ScenarioSize (compressed)
Import generic exception (HttpClientException)~ 390b
Import 1 client exception~ 425b
Import 2 client exceptions~ 447b
Import 6 client exceptions~ 515b
Import createHttpException (all 43 exceptions)~ 1240b
Import fromJson (incl all + createHttpException)~ 1740b
All serializer functions + exceptions + typeguards~ 1950b

For CJS usage (not recommended) track the size on bundlephobia.

Packaging

This library offers a dual cjs/esm bundle. The (optional) serializer code has been tuned to avoid issues with dual package hazards.

The export fields and the builds are checked on the CI with are-the-types-wrong.

PS: Plans to remove cjs support might land in a next major version.

Typescript

This library targets typescript 5+ with descriptions (see the generated api docs).

Upgrade

Refer to the UPGRADE.md for detailed information.

VersionComment
3.xSerializer functions don’t include stack by default
2.xNode 18.x, modern browsers (see how to transpile)