feat: add request layer lifecycle TracingChannels

README.md

@@ -400,6 +400,58 @@ router.route('/pet/:id')
 server.listen(8080)
 ```
 
+## Diagnostics
+
+`router` integrates with Node.js [`diagnostics_channel`](https://nodejs.org/api/diagnostics_channel.html)
+via a [`TracingChannel`](https://nodejs.org/api/diagnostics_channel.html#class-tracingchannel)
+named `express.router.request`. This lets observability tools (APMs, tracers,
+loggers) hook into middleware and route handler execution without monkey-patching.
+
+Each layer's handler invocation publishes the standard tracing channel sub-events
+(`start`, `end`, `asyncStart`, `asyncEnd`, `error`). The published context object
+contains:
+
+- `req`: the incoming `http.IncomingMessage`
+- `res`: the `http.ServerResponse`
+- `layer`: the internal `Layer` instance being invoked (exposes `.name`, `.path`, `.handle`, etc.). Note that `Layer` is an internal implementation detail and its shape may change between releases.
+- `error`: the error the layer failed with, when applicable
+- `errorHandler`: `true` when the layer is an error-handling middleware (4-arg signature)
+
+The `error` event is published once, on the layer where the error originates,
+whether the handler calls `next(err)`, throws, or returns a rejected promise. An
+error bubbling up through outer layers is not reported again. The `'route'` and
+`'router'` routing signals are not treated as errors and will not publish to the
+`error` channel.
+
+When no subscribers are attached, tracing is bypassed entirely, so there is no
+context allocation or channel publishing overhead on the hot path.
+
+```js
+const dc = require('node:diagnostics_channel')
+
+const channel = dc.tracingChannel('express.router.request')
+
+channel.subscribe({
+  start (ctx) {
+    ctx.startTime = process.hrtime.bigint()
+  },
+  end (ctx) {
+    // do whatever you need on synchronous completion
+  },
+  asyncStart (ctx) {
+    // do whatever you need when the async portion begins
+  },
+  asyncEnd (ctx) {
+    const durationNs = process.hrtime.bigint() - ctx.startTime
+    console.log('%s %s -> %s (%dns)',
+      ctx.req.method, ctx.req.url, ctx.layer.name, durationNs)
+  },
+  error (ctx) {
+    console.error('handler error in %s:', ctx.layer.name, ctx.error)
+  }
+})
+```
+
 ## License
 
 [MIT](LICENSE)

lib/layer.js

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  * @private
  */
 
+const dc = require('node:diagnostics_channel')
 const isPromise = require('is-promise')
 const pathRegexp = require('path-to-regexp')
 const debug = require('debug')('router:layer')
@@ -25,6 +26,30 @@ const deprecate = require('depd')('router')
 const TRAILING_SLASH_REGEXP = /\/+$/
 const MATCHING_GROUP_REGEXP = /\((?:\?<(.*?)>)?(?!\?)/g
 
+/**
+ * TracingChannel setup.
+ * @private
+ */
+
+const requestChannel = dc.tracingChannel && dc.tracingChannel('express.router.request')
+
+// Tracks errors already reported for a request so the same error bubbling up
+// through mounted routers or forwarding error handlers is only reported once.
+// Registered globally so the dedup holds when an app loads multiple copies of
+// router (e.g. a direct dependency alongside the one bundled by express).
+const publishedErrors = Symbol.for('router.tracing.publishedErrors')
+
+// TracingChannel#hasSubscribers is undefined before Node 20.13/22, so check the sub-channels.
+function shouldTrace (ch) {
+  return Boolean(ch) && (
+    ch.start.hasSubscribers ||
+    ch.end.hasSubscribers ||
+    ch.asyncStart.hasSubscribers ||
+    ch.asyncEnd.hasSubscribers ||
+    ch.error.hasSubscribers
+  )
+}
+
 /**
  * Expose `Layer`.
  */
@@ -111,23 +136,32 @@ Layer.prototype.handleError = function handleError (error, req, res, next) {
     return next(error)
   }
 
-  try {
-    // invoke function
-    const ret = fn(error, req, res, next)
+  if (!shouldTrace(requestChannel)) {
+    try {
+      // invoke function
+      const ret = handlePromise(fn(error, req, res, next))
 
-    // wait for returned promise
-    if (isPromise(ret)) {
-      if (!(ret instanceof Promise)) {
-        deprecate('handlers that are Promise-like are deprecated, use a native Promise instead')
+      // wait for returned promise
+      if (ret) {
+        ret.then(null, function (error) {
+          next(error || new Error('Rejected promise'))
+        })
       }
-
-      ret.then(null, function (error) {
-        next(error || new Error('Rejected promise'))
-      })
+    } catch (err) {
+      next(err)
     }
-  } catch (err) {
-    next(err)
+    return
   }
+
+  invokeWithTrace(function (wrappedNext) {
+    return fn(error, req, res, wrappedNext)
+  }, {
+    req,
+    res,
+    error,
+    layer: this,
+    errorHandler: true
+  }, next)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -147,23 +181,125 @@ Layer.prototype.handleRequest = function handleRequest (req, res, next) {
     return next()
   }
 
-  try {
-    // invoke function
-    const ret = fn(req, res, next)
-
-    // wait for returned promise
-    if (isPromise(ret)) {
-      if (!(ret instanceof Promise)) {
-        deprecate('handlers that are Promise-like are deprecated, use a native Promise instead')
+  // Skip tracing for route dispatch wrappers (this.route is only set on the
+  // internal layer that calls route.dispatch); the user handlers inside the
+  // route are traced individually. Also skip when there are no subscribers,
+  // to avoid allocating a context object on every request.
+  if (this.route || !shouldTrace(requestChannel)) {
+    try {
+      // invoke function
+      const ret = handlePromise(fn(req, res, next))
+
+      // wait for returned promise
+      if (ret) {
+        ret.then(null, function (error) {
+          next(error || new Error('Rejected promise'))
+        })
       }
+    } catch (err) {
+      next(err)
+    }
+    return
+  }
+
+  invokeWithTrace(function (wrappedNext) {
+    return fn(req, res, wrappedNext)
+  }, {
+    req,
+    res,
+    layer: this
+  }, next)
+}
 
-      ret.then(null, function (error) {
-        next(error || new Error('Rejected promise'))
-      })
+/**
+ * Record an error as reported for this request. Returns false when the same
+ * error was already reported, so it isn't published again as it bubbles up.
+ * @private
+ */
+
+function recordError (req, err) {
+  let seen = req[publishedErrors]
+  if (!seen) {
+    seen = req[publishedErrors] = new Set()
+  } else if (seen.has(err)) {
+    return false
+  }
+  seen.add(err)
+  return true
+}
+
+// 'route' and 'router' signal to exit the route / router (see route.js), not
+// real errors.
+function isRoutingSignal (err) {
+  return err === 'route' || err === 'router'
+}
+
+/**
+ * Invoke a handler wrapped in the request TracingChannel. Only called when the
+ * channel has subscribers, so ctx is always present.
+ * @private
+ */
+
+function invokeWithTrace (exec, ctx, next) {
+  const wrappedNext = function (err) {
+    // Routing signals aren't errors; only report a real error once, at its
+    // origin, not again as it bubbles up through outer layers.
+    if (err && !isRoutingSignal(err) && recordError(ctx.req, err)) {
+      ctx.error = err
+      requestChannel.error.publish(ctx)
     }
-  } catch (err) {
     next(err)
   }
+
+  // runStores fires `start` and sets the async context; the rest are published
+  // manually, so a synchronous layer emits only start/end. All outcomes flow
+  // through wrappedNext to keep signal filtering and dedup in one place.
+  requestChannel.start.runStores(ctx, function () {
+    let out
+    try {
+      out = handlePromise(exec(wrappedNext))
+    } catch (err) {
+      // A sync throw is forwarded verbatim, so a falsy value keeps routing
+      // exactly as the untraced path does.
+      wrappedNext(err)
+      requestChannel.end.publish(ctx)
+      return
+    }
+
+    if (!out) {
+      requestChannel.end.publish(ctx)
+      return
+    }
+
+    requestChannel.end.publish(ctx)
+    out.then(
+      function () {
+        requestChannel.asyncStart.publish(ctx)
+        requestChannel.asyncEnd.publish(ctx)
+      },
+      function (err) {
+        // A rejected promise is an error even when the reason is falsy;
+        // normalize it to the error the router forwards to next().
+        wrappedNext(err || new Error('Rejected promise'))
+        requestChannel.asyncStart.publish(ctx)
+        requestChannel.asyncEnd.publish(ctx)
+      }
+    )
+  })
+}
+
+/**
+ * If the return value is a promise, validate it and return it.
+ * @private
+ */
+
+function handlePromise (ret) {
+  if (isPromise(ret)) {
+    if (!(ret instanceof Promise)) {
+      deprecate('handlers that are Promise-like are deprecated, use a native Promise instead')
+    }
+    return ret
+  }
 }
 
 /**