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JSON, Text & XML

Send structured or plain-text HTTP bodies with json(), text(), xml(), or the generic send(). Pick the method that matches what your caller expects.

json(obj)

Sets Content-Type: application/json and sends JSON. The workhorse for API responses.

res.json({
  status: "success",
  user: user?.id ?? null,
  count: items.length
})

String passthrough — if you pass a string, it is sent as-is (useful for pre-serialized JSON):

res.json('{"ok":true}')

Serialization errors — if JSON.stringify fails, res returns 500 with:

{ "error": "JSON serialization failed", "message": "..." }

Circular references are JavaScript's way of saying "nice try."

text(content)

Sets Content-Type: text/plain and sends plain text.

res.text("Hello, world!")

If the string contains EJS tags (<%), it is rendered first:

res.text("Hello <%= bot.username %>, request from <%= request.ip %>")

xml(content)

Sets Content-Type: application/xml and sends the body unchanged.

res.xml('<?xml version="1.0"?><response><status>ok</status></response>')

send(body)

Generic send method. Uses whatever Content-Type you set with set(), or auto-detects HTML when the body looks like HTML.

res.send("raw body")

res.set("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream").send(binaryData)

For HTML bodies, send() applies the same HTML access protection as html(). Prefer html() or json() when the content type is known.

Try it — copy-paste examples

JSON API with validation

let id = params.id
if (!id) {
  return res.status(400).json({ error: "id required" })
}

let record = await db.bot.get("records:" + id)
res.json({ ok: true, record })

Plain-text health check

res.text("ok")

XML feed snippet

let items = await db.bot.get("feed") || []
let xml = '<?xml version="1.0"?><rss><channel>'
for (let item of items) {
  xml += `<item><title>${item.title}</title></item>`
}
xml += "</channel></rss>"
res.xml(xml)

See also