Node.js API compatibility - Events
The events API in Node.js is a core module that provides a way to work with event-driven programming. It allows developers to create and manage event emitters, which are objects that can emit named events and listen for those events through event listeners. This module is available in the Azion Runtime through Node.js compatibility, making it useful for decoupling logic in functions by emitting events and reacting to them with dedicated listeners.
Example: Basic event emission
The example below shows how to use the events module in a function:
/** * An example of using the Node.js `events` module in Azion Functions. * Support: * - Partial support * - Extended by library `events` * @example * // Execute with Azion Bundler: * npx edge-functions build * npx edge-functions dev */import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
/** * Emit an event and listen to it. * @param {*} event * @returns {Response} Response */const main = async (event) => { const emitter = new EventEmitter();
emitter.on("hello-event", (...args) => { console.log("an event occurred!", ...args); });
emitter.emit("hello-event", 1, 2, 3); return new Response("Event emitted", { status: 200 });};
export default main;Example: Request lifecycle events
Use EventEmitter to handle request processing stages:
import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
const main = async (event) => { const requestEmitter = new EventEmitter(); const results = [];
// Get request info with optional chaining for safety const requestUrl = event.request?.url || "https://default.example.com"; const requestHeaders = event.request?.headers || {};
// Listen for request start requestEmitter.on("start", (url) => { console.log(`Processing request: ${url}`); results.push(`Started: ${url}`); });
// Listen for validation events requestEmitter.on("validate", (data) => { if (data.headers) { console.log("Headers validated"); results.push("Headers validated"); } });
// Listen for completion requestEmitter.on("complete", (status) => { console.log(`Request completed with status: ${status}`); results.push(`Completed: ${status}`); });
// Listen for errors requestEmitter.on("error", (err) => { console.error(`Error: ${err.message}`); results.push(`Error: ${err.message}`); });
// Emit events in sequence requestEmitter.emit("start", requestUrl); requestEmitter.emit("validate", { headers: requestHeaders }); requestEmitter.emit("complete", 200);
return new Response(JSON.stringify({ events: results }), { headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } });};
export default main;Example: One-time listeners and error handling
Use once() for single-execution listeners and handle errors properly:
import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
const main = async (event) => { const emitter = new EventEmitter(); const log = [];
// One-time listener - only executes once emitter.once("init", () => { console.log("Initialization complete"); log.push("Initialized"); });
// Multiple listeners for same event emitter.on("data", (chunk) => { console.log(`Processing chunk: ${chunk}`); log.push(`Chunk: ${chunk}`); });
emitter.on("data", (chunk) => { console.log(`Logging chunk: ${chunk}`); log.push(`Logged: ${chunk}`); });
// Error handling - special 'error' event emitter.on("error", (err) => { console.error(`Error caught: ${err.message}`); log.push(`Error: ${err.message}`); });
// Emit events emitter.emit("init"); emitter.emit("init"); // Won't trigger again - once() used emitter.emit("data", "chunk-1"); emitter.emit("data", "chunk-2"); emitter.emit("error", new Error("Test error"));
return new Response(JSON.stringify({ log }), { headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } });};
export default main;Example: Async event handlers
Handle asynchronous operations in event listeners:
import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";import { setTimeout } from "node:timers/promises";
const main = async (event) => { const emitter = new EventEmitter(); const results = [];
// Note: EventEmitter does NOT await Promises returned by listeners. // The emit() method returns immediately, without waiting for async operations. // For async operations, it's recommended to use Promise-based patterns // instead of relying on EventEmitter alone.
// Listen for fetch completion events emitter.on("fetched", (result) => { results.push(result); console.log(`Fetched: ${result.url}`); });
// Error handler emitter.on("error", (err) => { console.error(`Fetch error: ${err.message}`); results.push({ error: err.message }); });
// Define async fetch function that emits events const fetchData = async (url) => { try { const response = await fetch(url); const data = await response.json(); const result = { url, status: response.status, data }; emitter.emit("fetched", result); return result; } catch (error) { emitter.emit("error", error); return { url, error: error.message }; } };
// URLs to fetch const urls = [ "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1", "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/2" ];
// Execute fetches in parallel and wait for completion const fetchResults = await Promise.all(urls.map(fetchData));
return new Response(JSON.stringify({ results, fetchResults }), { headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } });};
export default main;Example: Custom EventEmitter class
Extend EventEmitter to create domain-specific event emitters:
import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
// Custom class extending EventEmitterclass RequestHandler extends EventEmitter { constructor() { super(); this.requestCount = 0; }
processRequest(request) { this.requestCount++; this.emit("request", { id: this.requestCount, url: request.url });
try { // Simulate processing const result = { processed: true, id: this.requestCount }; this.emit("success", result); return result; } catch (error) { this.emit("error", error); throw error; } }}
const main = async (event) => { const handler = new RequestHandler(); const logs = [];
// Attach listeners handler.on("request", (data) => { logs.push(`Request #${data.id}: ${data.url}`); });
handler.on("success", (result) => { logs.push(`Success: ${JSON.stringify(result)}`); });
handler.on("error", (err) => { logs.push(`Error: ${err.message}`); });
// Process requests handler.processRequest(event.request); handler.processRequest({ url: "https://example.com/test" });
// Get listener counts const listenerCount = handler.listenerCount("request"); logs.push(`Request listeners: ${listenerCount}`);
return new Response(JSON.stringify({ logs, totalRequests: handler.requestCount }), { headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } });};
export default main;Supported APIs
| API | Status |
|---|---|
new EventEmitter() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.on() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.once() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.emit() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.off() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.removeListener() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.removeAllListeners() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.listenerCount() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.listeners() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.eventNames() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.prependListener() | 🟢 Supported |
emitter.prependOnceListener() | 🟢 Supported |
EventEmitter.listenerCount() | 🟢 Supported |
EventEmitter.defaultMaxListeners | 🟢 Supported |
captureRejections | 🟡 Partially supported |