Hono Routing & Middleware

Status: Production Ready ✅ Last Updated: 2025-10-22 Production Tested: Used across Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, and Node.js applications

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Auto-Trigger Keywords

Claude Code automatically discovers this skill when you mention:

Primary Keywords

• hono
• hono routing
• hono middleware
• hono rpc
• hono validator
• @hono/hono

Secondary Keywords

• hono routes
• hono typed routes
• hono context
• hono error handling
• hono request validation
• zod validator hono
• valibot validator hono
• hono client
• type-safe api
• hono middleware composition
• c.req.valid
• c.json
• hono hooks

Error-Based Keywords

• "middleware response not typed"
• "hono validation failed"
• "hono rpc type inference"
• "hono context type"
• "HTTPException hono"
• "hono route params"
• "hono middleware chain"
• "validator hook hono"
• "hono error handler"

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What This Skill Does

This skill provides comprehensive knowledge for building type-safe APIs with Hono, focusing on routing patterns, middleware composition, request validation, RPC client/server patterns, error handling, and context management.

Core Capabilities

✅ Routing Patterns - Route parameters, query params, wildcards, route grouping ✅ Middleware Composition - Built-in middleware, custom middleware, chaining strategies ✅ Request Validation - Zod, Valibot, Typia, ArkType validators with custom error hooks ✅ Typed Routes (RPC) - Type-safe client/server communication with full type inference ✅ Error Handling - HTTPException, onError hooks, custom error responses ✅ Context Extension - c.set/c.get patterns, custom context types, type-safe variables

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Known Issues This Skill Prevents

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When to Use This Skill

✅ Use When:

• Building APIs with Hono (any runtime: Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, Node.js)
• Setting up request validation with Zod, Valibot, or other validators
• Creating type-safe RPC client/server communication
• Implementing custom middleware or middleware chains
• Handling errors with HTTPException or custom error handlers
• Extending Hono context with custom variables
• Optimizing route type inference for better IDE performance
• Migrating from Express or other frameworks to Hono

❌ Don't Use When:

• Setting up Cloudflare Workers infrastructure (use cloudflare-worker-base instead)
• Building Next.js applications (use cloudflare-nextjs or Next.js docs)
• Need database integration (use cloudflare-d1, cloudflare-kv, etc.)
• Need authentication setup (use clerk-auth or other auth skills)

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Quick Usage Example

import { Hono } from 'hono'
import { zValidator } from '@hono/zod-validator'
import { z } from 'zod'

const app = new Hono()

// Route with validation
const schema = z.object({
  name: z.string(),
  age: z.number(),
})

app.post('/user', zValidator('json', schema), (c) => {
  const data = c.req.valid('json')
  return c.json({ success: true, data })
})

// Type-safe RPC export
export type AppType = typeof app

Result: Fully type-safe API with validation, ready for RPC client

Full instructions: See SKILL.md

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Token Efficiency Metrics

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Package Versions (Verified 2025-10-22)

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Dependencies

Prerequisites: None (framework-agnostic)

Integrates With:

• cloudflare-worker-base (optional) - For Cloudflare Workers setup
• clerk-auth (optional) - For authentication middleware
• ai-sdk-core (optional) - For AI-powered endpoints

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File Structure

hono-routing/
├── SKILL.md                      # Complete documentation
├── README.md                     # This file
├── templates/
│   ├── routing-patterns.ts       # Route params, query, wildcards
│   ├── middleware-composition.ts # Middleware chaining, built-ins
│   ├── validation-zod.ts         # Zod validation with hooks
│   ├── validation-valibot.ts     # Valibot validation
│   ├── rpc-pattern.ts            # Type-safe RPC client/server
│   ├── error-handling.ts         # HTTPException, onError, custom
│   ├── context-extension.ts      # c.set/c.get, custom types
│   └── package.json              # All dependencies
├── references/
│   ├── middleware-catalog.md     # Built-in Hono middleware
│   ├── validation-libraries.md   # Zod vs Valibot vs others
│   ├── rpc-guide.md              # RPC pattern deep dive
│   └── top-errors.md             # Common errors + solutions
└── scripts/
    └── check-versions.sh         # Verify package versions

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Official Documentation

• Hono: https://hono.dev
• Hono Routing: https://hono.dev/docs/api/routing
• Hono Middleware: https://hono.dev/docs/guides/middleware
• Hono Validation: https://hono.dev/docs/guides/validation
• Hono RPC: https://hono.dev/docs/guides/rpc
• Context7 Library: /llmstxt/hono_dev_llms-full_txt

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Related Skills

• cloudflare-worker-base - Cloudflare Workers + Hono setup
• clerk-auth - Authentication middleware patterns
• react-hook-form-zod - Client-side form validation
• ai-sdk-core - AI-powered API endpoints

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Contributing

Found an issue or have a suggestion?

• Open an issue: https://github.com/jezweb/claude-skills/issues
• See SKILL.md for detailed documentation

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License

MIT License - See main repo LICENSE file

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Production Tested: Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, Node.js Token Savings: ~56% Error Prevention: 100% Ready to use! See SKILL.md for complete setup.