Express 5: Optional Parameters (TypeError: Unexpected ?) #338

SupertigerDev · 2024-11-14T16:13:21Z

SupertigerDev
Nov 14, 2024

I have a route like this /users/:userId? which worked fine in express 4

but i get this error in express 5. It is understandable that I need to use the new format, however, the error does not provide a line number, making it difficult to find in my existing codebase.

Also, what even is the new solution to this?

E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:205
    throw new TypeError(
          ^


TypeError: Unexpected ? at 14, expected END: https://git.new/pathToRegexpError
    at Iter.consume (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:205:11)
    at consume (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:315:10)
    at parse (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:320:18)
    at <anonymous> (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:503:40)
    at Array.map (<anonymous>)
    at pathToRegexp (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:502:23)
    at Object.match (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\path-to-regexp\src\index.ts:461:28)
    at matcher (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\router\lib\layer.js:83:23)
    at new Layer (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\router\lib\layer.js:90:62)
    at Function.route (E:\Projects\Nerimity\nerimity-server\node_modules\.pnpm\[email protected]\node_modules\router\index.js:421:17)

Node.js v22.11.0

Answered by wenerme

Nov 15, 2024

use /users{/:userId} instead

View full answer

wenerme · 2024-11-15T04:27:36Z

wenerme
Nov 15, 2024

use /users{/:userId} instead

3 replies

SupertigerDev Nov 16, 2024
Author

If I have 1000 routes, how do I easily replace it everywhere?

wenerme Nov 16, 2024

maybe editor replace :(\w+)[?] -> {:\1} ?

jotpal07 Jul 23, 2025

Previously, the route pattern :stage?/url/path worked with an optional :stage? parameter — it matched both when a stage was provided (e.g., http://localhost/devstage/url/path) and when it was omitted (e.g., http://localhost/url/path).

However, this no longer seems to work when the optional :stage parameter is placed at the beginning of the route. In this case, the route only matches if a stage name is provided — it does not match the URL when the stage is omitted.

To make both cases work, the optional parameter needs to be placed after a static segment. For example, using stagename{/:stage}/url/path allows both of the following URLs to match correctly

http://localhost/stagename/devstage/url/path
http://localhost/stagename/url/path

It appears that the optional parameter {/:stage} only works when it's not at the beginning of the route.

Could someone please confirm if this is expected behavior? And if so, is it possible to fix it so that optional parameters also work when placed at the beginning of the route?

iC00kScripts · 2024-11-20T20:13:20Z

iC00kScripts
Nov 20, 2024

This also works and IMO clearer/cleaner ["/users", "/users/:userId"]

0 replies

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Express 5: Optional Parameters (TypeError: Unexpected ?) #338

Uh oh!

{{title}}

Uh oh!

Replies: 2 comments 3 replies

Uh oh!

{{title}}

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

{{title}}

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

{{title}}

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

{{title}}

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

{{title}}

Uh oh!

Select a reply

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Express 5: Optional Parameters (TypeError: Unexpected ?) #338

Uh oh!

SupertigerDev Nov 14, 2024

Replies: 2 comments · 3 replies

Uh oh!

wenerme Nov 15, 2024

Uh oh!

SupertigerDev Nov 16, 2024 Author

Uh oh!

wenerme Nov 16, 2024

Uh oh!

jotpal07 Jul 23, 2025

Uh oh!

iC00kScripts Nov 20, 2024

SupertigerDev
Nov 14, 2024

Replies: 2 comments 3 replies

wenerme
Nov 15, 2024

SupertigerDev Nov 16, 2024
Author

iC00kScripts
Nov 20, 2024