Custom http routes don't currently include req.body

Description

Currently when you setup a custom http route (as described in #514), the route callback doesn’t get a req.body field. This is because Express requires you to define a bodyParser as middleware to populate req.body.

This can be done by users in their bolt app by adding the following code:

const express = require('express)

expressReceiver.router.use(express.json())
expressReceiver.router.post('custom/path', (req, res) => {
  // it is defined and populated
  console.log(req.body)
  // You're working with an express req and res now.
  res.send('yay!');
});

My suggestion is we make this easier for users. Two options:

Option 1 - Add this bodyParser middleware in ExpressReceiver so users don’t have to specify it. Maybe pick express.json as the default but allow users to override it.

Option 2 - Exposes the built in parsers on ExpressReceiver so users don’t have to require('express')

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• bug
• enhancement (feature request)
• question
• documentation related
• testing related
• discussion

Requirements (place an x in each of the [ ])

• I’ve read and understood the Contributing guidelines and have done my best effort to follow them.
• I’ve read and agree to the Code of Conduct.
• I’ve searched for any related issues and avoided creating a duplicate issue.

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[kaifresh]

Hi guys, I’ve run into this problem too and actually had more luck with:

expressReceiver.router.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));

Using express.json() didn’t work for me. I’m just adding this here for posterity! Also this related SO article.

[albarivas]

Hi, I’m defining a custom HTTP route this way:

const salesforceMessageCallback = {
    path: '/salesforce/message',
    method: ['POST'],
    handler: salesforceMessageHandler
};

const registerCustomRoutes = () => {
    const routes = [];
    routes.push(salesforceMessageCallback);
    return routes;
};

const app = new App({
    customRoutes: registerCustomRoutes()
});

req.body arrives undefined as explained in this thread. I’ve tried the suggested solutions but I don’t get it to work. Is it needed to use a custom receiver to solve this problem?

Thanks.

Edit: I found a way to do it, please advice if it’s best practice.

const getRawBody = require('raw-body');

const salesforceMessageHandler = async (req, res) => {
    const rawBody = await getRawBody(req);
    const body = JSON.parse(rawBody.toString());
    console.log(body[0].id); // id is one of the parameters that arrives in the body
};