Edge Compatibility

Volten is designed as a hybrid runtime framework. While offering zero-dependency native Node.js performance, it also runs natively in modern Edge runtimes (Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge Runtime, Fastly Compute, and WinterCG-compliant platforms) using the standard Web Fetch API (Request, Response, Headers, and ReadableStream).

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Universal Runtime Vision

Write your routes and business logic once using Volten's intuitive context API (ctx), and deploy the same application across:

• Node.js (via native http / https sockets)
• Cloudflare Workers (via app.createFetch())
• Vercel Edge Functions (via Edge runtime)
• Bun & Deno (via standard Web Fetch APIs)

import { App } from "volten";

const app = new App();

app.get("/api/greeting", (ctx) => {
  ctx.json({
    message: "Hello from Volten!",
    runtime: ctx.runtime, // 'node' | 'edge'
  });
});

// For Cloudflare Workers or Edge environments:
export default {
  fetch: app.createFetch(),
};

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Edge Runtime Detection (isEdge.ts)

Volten provides intelligent, zero-config environment sniffing in src/utils/isEdge.ts. The isEdge() utility executes a multi-factor detection strategy to determine if the active runtime lacks Node.js APIs or restricts dynamic code generation.

Detection Heuristics

isEdge() evaluates the following conditions in priority order:

1. Manual Override: If setIsEdge(boolean) was explicitly set (e.g. in tests), that value is returned immediately.
2. Vercel Edge Runtime: Checks if globalThis.EdgeRuntime is a string.
3. Cloudflare Workers Navigator: Checks if navigator.userAgent contains "Cloudflare-Workers".
4. Cloudflare Workers Globals: Checks for the existence of globalThis.WebSocketPair.
5. Environment Variables: Checks whether any of the following environment variables indicate an edge container:
   • process.env.NEXT_RUNTIME === 'edge'
   • process.env.EDGE_RUNTIME === 'true' or '1'
   • process.env.VOLTEN_RUNTIME === 'edge'
   • process.env.NODE_ENV === 'edge'
6. Missing Process Global: Detects environments where Node's process global is undefined (typeof process === 'undefined').
7. Eval Restriction Probe (checkEvalBlocked): Probes whether dynamic function construction is blocked:

   try {
     new Function("");
     evalBlocked = false;
   } catch {
     evalBlocked = true;
   }

   If new Function("") throws an error due to platform security policies or Content Security Policy (CSP), isEdge() returns true.

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Dynamic Compilation & Fallbacks

Many Edge environments (like Cloudflare Workers and strict serverless containers) disable arbitrary code evaluation (eval and new Function(...)) for security reasons. Volten adapts dynamically based on isEdge():

1. Middleware Pipeline (compileMiddlewareChain)

• Node.js: Volten JIT-compiles your route middleware stack using dynamic code generation (new Function(...)) into an optimized, flattened execution chain that eliminates closure allocations between next() calls.
• Edge Runtime: When isEdge() returns true, Volten automatically switches to createDynamicMiddlewareChain(). This uses an onion-model dispatch loop with index guards, providing identical middleware behavior (await next()) without requiring new Function.

// src/core/compose.ts
export function compileMiddlewareChain(chain: VoltenHandler[]): VoltenChainHandler {
  if (isEdge()) {
    return createDynamicMiddlewareChain(chain);
  }
  // JIT compilation with new Function(...)
}

2. JSON Serialization (voltJson & compileVoltJson)

• Node.js: Shapes are fingerprinted and compiled into high-speed template string serializer functions.
• Edge Runtime: Bypasses dynamic compilation and seamlessly uses native JSON.stringify().

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The EdgeRequestContext

When handling requests via app.createFetch(), Volten utilizes EdgeRequestContext instead of NodeRequestContext:

• Web Request: Accessible via ctx.req or ctx.rawReq as a native Request.
• Standard Response: Produces a native Web Response object accessible via ctx._edgeResponsePromise.
• Return Value Ergonomics: In addition to ctx.send() and ctx.json(), handlers in Edge mode can directly return values:

  // Return an object (auto-serialized to JSON)
  app.get("/user", () => ({ id: 1, name: "Alice" }));
  
  // Return a string (text/plain)
  app.get("/status", () => "OK");
  
  // Return a raw Web standard Response
  app.get("/custom", () => new Response("custom", { status: 201 }));

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Deployment Examples

Cloudflare Workers

import { App } from "volten";

const app = new App();

app.get("/", (ctx) => {
  ctx.send("Hello from Cloudflare Workers!");
});

app.get("/env", (ctx) => {
  // Edge runtime bindings passed in env
  const apiKey = (ctx.env as Record<string, string>)?.["API_KEY"];
  ctx.json({ hasKey: Boolean(apiKey) });
});

export default {
  fetch: app.createFetch(),
};

Vercel Edge Middleware / Functions

import { App } from "volten";

export const config = {
  runtime: "edge",
};

const app = new App();

app.get("/api/edge", (ctx) => {
  ctx.json({ platform: "Vercel Edge" });
});

export default app.createFetch();

Bun Native HTTP Server

import { App } from "volten";

const app = new App();

app.get("/", (ctx) => {
  ctx.send("Running fast on Bun!");
});

export default {
  port: 3000,
  fetch: app.createFetch(),
};

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Testing & Overrides (setIsEdge)

For testing environments or specialized runtime wrappers, you can manually force or reset the edge detection state:

import { isEdge, setIsEdge } from "volten"; // or from 'volten/utils'

// Force Edge mode
setIsEdge(true);
console.log(isEdge()); // true

// Force Node.js mode
setIsEdge(false);
console.log(isEdge()); // false

// Revert to automatic runtime detection
setIsEdge(null);