Hono Validation

Hono Validation Patterns

Overview

Hono provides a lightweight built-in validator and integrates seamlessly with popular validation libraries like Zod, TypeBox, and Valibot. Validation happens as middleware, providing type-safe access to validated data in handlers.

Key Features:

• Built-in lightweight validator
• First-class Zod integration via @hono/zod-validator
• Standard Schema support (works with any validation library)
• Type inference from validation schemas
• Validates: JSON, forms, query params, headers, cookies, path params

When to Use This Skill

Use Hono validation when:

• Validating API request bodies (JSON, form data)
• Ensuring query parameters meet requirements
• Validating authentication headers
• Type-safe path parameter parsing
• Cookie validation

Installation

# Zod (recommended)
npm install @hono/zod-validator zod

# TypeBox
npm install @hono/typebox-validator @sinclair/typebox

# Valibot
npm install @hono/valibot-validator valibot

# Standard Schema (any compatible library)
npm install @hono/standard-validator

Zod Validation (Recommended)

Basic Usage

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

const app = new Hono()

// Define schema
const createUserSchema = z.object({
  name: z.string().min(1).max(100),
  email: z.string().email(),
  age: z.number().int().min(0).max(150).optional()
})

// Apply validation
app.post(
  '/users',
  zValidator('json', createUserSchema),
  (c) => {
    // Fully typed! { name: string; email: string; age?: number }
    const data = c.req.valid('json')
    return c.json({ user: data }, 201)
  }
)

Validation Targets

// JSON body
app.post('/api', zValidator('json', schema), handler)

// Form data (multipart or urlencoded)
app.post('/form', zValidator('form', schema), handler)

// Query parameters
app.get('/search', zValidator('query', z.object({
  q: z.string(),
  page: z.coerce.number().default(1),
  limit: z.coerce.number().max(100).default(20)
})), handler)

// Path parameters
app.get('/users/:id', zValidator('param', z.object({
  id: z.string().uuid()
})), handler)

// Headers (use lowercase!)
app.post('/api', zValidator('header', z.object({
  'authorization': z.string().startsWith('Bearer '),
  'x-request-id': z.string().uuid().optional()
})), handler)

// Cookies
app.get('/dashboard', zValidator('cookie', z.object({
  session: z.string().min(1)
})), handler)

Custom Error Handling

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

// Custom error response
app.post(
  '/users',
  zValidator('json', createUserSchema, (result, c) => {
    if (!result.success) {
      return c.json({
        error: 'Validation failed',
        details: result.error.flatten()
      }, 400)
    }
  }),
  (c) => {
    const data = c.req.valid('json')
    return c.json({ user: data }, 201)
  }
)

Multiple Validators

const paramsSchema = z.object({
  userId: z.string().uuid()
})

const bodySchema = z.object({
  name: z.string().optional(),
  email: z.string().email().optional()
})

const querySchema = z.object({
  fields: z.string().optional()
})

app.patch(
  '/users/:userId',
  zValidator('param', paramsSchema),
  zValidator('json', bodySchema),
  zValidator('query', querySchema),
  (c) => {
    const { userId } = c.req.valid('param')
    const body = c.req.valid('json')
    const { fields } = c.req.valid('query')

    return c.json({ updated: { userId, ...body } })
  }
)

Common Zod Patterns

Coercion for Query/Form Data

// Query params come as strings - use coerce
const paginationSchema = z.object({
  page: z.coerce.number().int().min(1).default(1),
  limit: z.coerce.number().int().min(1).max(100).default(20),
  sort: z.enum(['asc', 'desc']).default('desc')
})

app.get('/items', zValidator('query', paginationSchema), (c) => {
  const { page, limit, sort } = c.req.valid('query')
  // page: number, limit: number, sort: 'asc' | 'desc'
})

Optional with Defaults

const configSchema = z.object({
  theme: z.enum(['light', 'dark']).default('light'),
  notifications: z.boolean().default(true),
  language: z.string().default('en')
})

Transformations

const userSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email().toLowerCase(),
  name: z.string().trim(),
  tags: z.string().transform(s => s.split(',')),  // "a,b,c" → ["a","b","c"]
  createdAt: z.string().transform(s => new Date(s))
})

Refinements

const passwordSchema = z.object({
  password: z.string().min(8),
  confirmPassword: z.string()
}).refine(data => data.password === data.confirmPassword, {
  message: "Passwords don't match",
  path: ['confirmPassword']
})

const dateRangeSchema = z.object({
  startDate: z.coerce.date(),
  endDate: z.coerce.date()
}).refine(data => data.endDate > data.startDate, {
  message: 'End date must be after start date'
})

Discriminated Unions

const eventSchema = z.discriminatedUnion('type', [
  z.object({
    type: z.literal('click'),
    x: z.number(),
    y: z.number()
  }),
  z.object({
    type: z.literal('scroll'),
    direction: z.enum(['up', 'down'])
  }),
  z.object({
    type: z.literal('keypress'),
    key: z.string()
  })
])

app.post('/events', zValidator('json', eventSchema), (c) => {
  const event = c.req.valid('json')

  if (event.type === 'click') {
    console.log(event.x, event.y)  // Typed correctly!
  }
})

Built-in Validator

For simple cases without external dependencies:

import { Hono } from 'hono'
import { validator } from 'hono/validator'

const app = new Hono()

app.post(
  '/posts',
  validator('json', (value, c) => {
    const { title, body } = value

    if (!title || typeof title !== 'string') {
      return c.json({ error: 'Title is required' }, 400)
    }

    if (!body || typeof body !== 'string') {
      return c.json({ error: 'Body is required' }, 400)
    }

    // Return validated data (shapes the type)
    return { title, body }
  }),
  (c) => {
    // data is typed as { title: string; body: string }
    const data = c.req.valid('json')
    return c.json({ post: data }, 201)
  }
)

TypeBox Validation

import { tbValidator } from '@hono/typebox-validator'
import { Type } from '@sinclair/typebox'

const UserSchema = Type.Object({
  name: Type.String({ minLength: 1 }),
  email: Type.String({ format: 'email' }),
  age: Type.Optional(Type.Integer({ minimum: 0 }))
})

app.post('/users', tbValidator('json', UserSchema), (c) => {
  const user = c.req.valid('json')
  return c.json({ user }, 201)
})

Valibot Validation

import { vValidator } from '@hono/valibot-validator'
import * as v from 'valibot'

const UserSchema = v.object({
  name: v.string([v.minLength(1)]),
  email: v.string([v.email()]),
  age: v.optional(v.number([v.integer(), v.minValue(0)]))
})

app.post('/users', vValidator('json', UserSchema), (c) => {
  const user = c.req.valid('json')
  return c.json({ user }, 201)
})

Standard Schema Validator

Works with any validation library implementing the Standard Schema spec:

import { standardValidator } from '@hono/standard-validator'
import { z } from 'zod'

// Works with Zod, Valibot, ArkType, etc.
app.post('/users', standardValidator('json', z.object({
  name: z.string(),
  email: z.string().email()
})), handler)

File Upload Validation

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

const uploadSchema = z.object({
  file: z.instanceof(File).refine(
    (file) => file.size <= 5 * 1024 * 1024,
    'File must be less than 5MB'
  ).refine(
    (file) => ['image/jpeg', 'image/png'].includes(file.type),
    'Only JPEG and PNG allowed'
  ),
  description: z.string().optional()
})

app.post('/upload', zValidator('form', uploadSchema), async (c) => {