Implementing Simple Request‑Response Timing Middleware in Node.js

During weekend development, the author shares a simple yet practical technique for measuring the time a server spends handling each HTTP request, from the moment the request is received until the response is sent.

The approach is straightforward: when a request arrives, attach a custom timestamp property to the request object, then listen to the finish event on the corresponding response object. When the response finishes, compute the time difference using Node's built‑in process.hrtime function.

Rather than maintaining a separate queue for each request, the middleware leverages the existing request/response objects, ensuring that only one function is called at the start of processing and the timing logic runs automatically when the response ends.

An illustrative example (shown as an image in the original article) demonstrates the middleware implementation, highlighting the single call to record the start time and the use of process.hrtime to obtain high‑resolution timing.

To validate the middleware, the author runs several curl commands against different endpoints, confirming that the recorded durations reflect the actual processing time.

Beyond detecting performance bottlenecks, tracking request latency can also reveal usage patterns, such as frequently accessed endpoints versus rarely used ones, which may suggest opportunities for business‑logic optimization or UI improvements.

The article concludes with a brief reminder that monitoring response times is a simple but powerful tool for improving backend performance.