# expressjs/cookie-parser

Parse HTTP request cookies

Repository: https://github.com/expressjs/cookie-parser
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cookie-parser
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: javascript, expressjs, nodejs, cookie, middleware
Last push: 2026-06-03T01:07:15+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 61/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4582, "days_push": 92, "days_rel": 694, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2028, forks 232 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:07.052106+00:00)

## What it is
Express/Node.js middleware that parses the HTTP Cookie header and populates req.cookies with name-value pairs. It also supports signed cookies via a secret and JSON cookies with a j: prefix.

## Use cases
- parse cookies from http requests in express
- read session cookies in nodejs
- support signed cookies in express middleware
- parse json cookies in node
- access request cookies as an object

## When to choose
- you use Express or Connect and need cookie parsing middleware
- you need signed cookie validation with a secret
- you want a tiny, battle-tested cookie parser for Node.js HTTP servers

## When to avoid
- you need to set cookies as well as parse them (use a cookie library or framework helpers)
- you are not on Node.js
- you need cookie-based session storage itself rather than parsing

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: middleware, http-server, serialization
- domain: web-development, backend, apis
- platform: -
- tags: cookies, express, signed-cookies, http-headers, nodejs, web-server

## Member repositories
- expressjs/cookie-parser (main) score 61

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:07.052106+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:59:39.686512+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/expressjs/cookie-parser (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:07.052106+00:00, sha 2f2050cd71e9)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/cookie-parser (fetched 2026-08-29T10:39:46.607040+00:00, sha e5216c3536b2)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.