@botbye/express

BotBye! integration for Node.js Express applications.

Full documentation: https://botbye.com/docs/server-side/node-js/express

Install

npm i @botbye/express

yarn add @botbye/express

Requires express >= 4 as a peer dependency.

Configuration

Call init once at application startup, before any routes are defined:

import { init } from "@botbye/express";

init({
  // Use your project server-key
  serverKey: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
});

init options

| Option | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | serverKey | string | Yes | Server key from your BotBye project | | url | string | No | Override BotBye API endpoint (default: https://verify.botbye.com) | | logger.level | "error" \| "warn" \| "info" \| "debug" \| "log" | No | Log level (default: "info") | | logger.logger | TLogger | No | Custom logger instance implementing { error, warn, info, debug, log } | | timeouts.evaluate | number | No | Timeout in milliseconds for each evaluate call |

Usage

Call evaluate in route handlers where bot protection is needed. It accepts an event object describing what you know about the request and the context around it, and returns a promise that resolves to a decision.

There are three event types — validate, risk, and full — each suited for a different layer of your application.

validate — edge-level bot check

Use at the edge — API gateway, route handler, middleware — when you just want to know: was this request made by a bot? No user or domain context needed.

Event fields:

{
  type: "validate";

  request:
    // Option A: pass the Express request object directly — SDK extracts everything automatically
    | { request: express.Request; token?: string | null }
    // Option B: construct request info manually
    | { ip: string; headers: Record<string, string>; requestMethod?: string | null; requestUri?: string | null; token?: string | null };

  customFields?: Record<string, string>;

}

The SDK extracts IP, headers, method, and URI from the Express request automatically. You can also pass request info manually — see Option B above. The token is a one-time token from the BotBye client-side SDK that contains information about the user's device. Pass whatever the client sent; if no token is received, the decision will be "BLOCK".

import { evaluate } from "@botbye/express";

app.post("/api/submit", async (req, res) => {
  const result = await evaluate({
    type: "validate",
    request: {
      request: req,
      // "x-botbye-token" is an example — pass the token from wherever you store it
      token: req.headers["x-botbye-token"],
    },
  });

  if (result.decision === "BLOCK") {
    return res.status(403).json({ error: "Forbidden" });
  }

  // proceed normally
});

risk — domain-level risk scoring

Use inside services that already know the user: auth, payments, account management, etc. The purpose shifts from "is this a bot?" to "is something suspicious happening for this user?" — credential stuffing, account takeover, account sharing, logins from a new geo.

Event fields:

{
  type: "risk";

  request:
    // Only ip is needed at this level
    | { ip: string; headers?: Record<string, string>; requestMethod?: string | null; requestUri?: string | null; token?: string | null }
    // Express request object also accepted if convenient
    | { request: express.Request };

  event: {
    type: string;   // e.g. "login", "password_change", "checkout"
    status: "ATTEMPTED" | "SUCCESSFUL" | "FAILED" | "UNKNOWN";
  };

  user: {
    accountId: string;
    username?: string | null;
    email?: string | null;
    phone?: string | null;
  };

  customFields?: Record<string, string>;
  botbyeResult?: string;

}

event and user are the key fields here — they define what action is being performed and who is performing it, which is what drives the risk score. ip is equally important: BotBye tracks which IPs access the account to detect patterns like account sharing, credential stuffing, and suspicious geo logins. Pass it directly as { ip }, or pass the Express request object if that's more convenient.

import { evaluate } from "@botbye/express";

// Inside an auth service, after a login attempt
async function onLoginAttempt({ ip, userId, email, loginSucceeded }) {
  const result = await evaluate({
    type: "risk",
    request: {
      ip,
      headers: {},
    },
    event: {
      type: "login",
      status: loginSucceeded ? "SUCCESSFUL" : "FAILED",
      // "SUCCESSFUL" | "FAILED" | "ATTEMPTED" | "UNKNOWN"
    },
    user: {
      accountId: userId,
      email,
    },
  });

  if (result.decision === "BLOCK") {
    // Lock account, trigger MFA, send alert, etc.
  }
}

Linking validate and risk events

When the same request is evaluated at two layers — for example, once at the edge (type: "validate") and then again inside a domain service (type: "risk") — BotBye can link both events and display them as a single event in the dashboard.

Step 1 — edge layer (gateway, middleware, or route handler): run validate and capture botbye_result:

const edgeResult = await evaluate({
  type: "validate",
  request: {
    request: req,
    // "x-botbye-token" is an example — pass the token from wherever you store it
    token: req.headers["x-botbye-token"],
  },
});
const edgeBotbyeResult = edgeResult.botbye_result;
// Pass edgeBotbyeResult downstream — a request header, function argument, shared context, etc.

Step 2 — domain service (auth, payment, account management): pass it as botbyeResult in the risk call:

const riskResult = await evaluate({
  type: "risk",
  request: { ip },
  event: {
    type: "login",
    status: loginSucceeded ? "SUCCESSFUL" : "FAILED",
  },
  user: {
    accountId: userId,
    email,
  },
  botbyeResult: edgeBotbyeResult,
});

botbye_result is optional in the response — if it is absent, omit botbyeResult and the events will be recorded independently.

full — edge check and domain scoring in one call

Use when you have all context at once: raw request, token, user, and event. A login endpoint is a typical example — it receives the HTTP request and immediately knows the user and outcome.

Event fields:

{
  type: "full";

  request:
    | { request: express.Request; token?: string | null }
    | { ip: string; headers: Record<string, string>; requestMethod?: string | null; requestUri?: string | null; token?: string | null };

  event: {
    type: string;
    status: "ATTEMPTED" | "SUCCESSFUL" | "FAILED" | "UNKNOWN";
  };

  user: {
    accountId: string;
    username?: string | null;
    email?: string | null;
    phone?: string | null;
  };

  customFields?: Record<string, string>;

}

Equivalent to running validate and risk in a single call.

import { evaluate } from "@botbye/express";

app.post("/auth/login", async (req, res) => {
  const { email, password } = req.body;
  const user = await findUser(email);
  const loginSucceeded = user && (await checkPassword(user, password));

  const result = await evaluate({
    type: "full",
    request: {
      request: req,
      token: req.headers["x-botbye-token"], // example header — pass the token from wherever you store it
    },
    event: {
      type: "login",
      status: loginSucceeded ? "SUCCESSFUL" : "FAILED",
    },
    user: {
      accountId: user?.id ?? "unknown",
      email,
    },
  });

  if (result.decision === "BLOCK") {
    return res.status(403).json({ error: "Forbidden" });
  }

  // proceed normally
});

Response

evaluate always returns a Promise<TEvaluationResult>:

type TEvaluationResult =
  | {
      decision: "ALLOW" | "BLOCK" | "CHALLENGE";
      request_id: string;
      risk_score: number;
      scores: Record<string, number>;
      signals: string[];
      botbye_result?: string;
    }
  | {
      decision: "ALLOW" | "BLOCK" | "CHALLENGE";
      botbye_result?: string;
      error: { message: string };
    };

Check result.decision to decide how to handle the request:

• "ALLOW" — request appears legitimate, proceed normally
• "BLOCK" — bot or suspicious activity detected, block the request
• "CHALLENGE" — uncertain, consider issuing a CAPTCHA, MFA or additional verification step

When the response contains an error field, BotBye could not evaluate the request (e.g. invalid server key). In that case decision defaults to "ALLOW" so that a misconfiguration does not block real users — but you should monitor and fix the underlying error.

Response examples

Blocked (bot detected):

{
  "request_id": "f77b2abd-c5d7-44f0-be4f-174b04876583",
  "decision": "BLOCK",
  "risk_score": 0.95,
  "scores": { "bot": 0.95 },
  "signals": ["AutomationTool"]
}

Allowed:

{
  "request_id": "f77b2abd-c5d7-44f0-be4f-174b04876583",
  "decision": "ALLOW",
  "risk_score": 0.05,
  "scores": { "bot": 0.05, "ato": 0.02 },
  "signals": []
}

Challenge:

{
  "request_id": "f77b2abd-c5d7-44f0-be4f-174b04876583",
  "decision": "CHALLENGE",
  "risk_score": 0.65,
  "scores": { "bot": 0.65 },
  "signals": ["SuspiciousFingerprint"],
  "challenge": { "type": "CAPTCHA", "token": "..." }
}

Invalid serverKey:

{
  "decision": "ALLOW",
  "error": { "message": "[BotBye] Bad Request: Invalid Server Key" }
}

Middleware usage

You can wrap evaluate into reusable Express middleware to protect multiple routes:

import { evaluate } from "@botbye/express";

async function botProtection(req, res, next) {
  const result = await evaluate({
    type: "validate",
    request: {
      request: req,
      token: req.headers["x-botbye-token"], // example header — pass the token from wherever you store it
    },
  });

  if (result.decision === "BLOCK") {
    return res.status(403).json({ error: "Forbidden" });
  }

  next();
}

app.post("/protected", botProtection, (req, res) => {
  res.json({ ok: true });
});

Advanced: multiple instances

Use factory to create independent SDK instances (useful when protecting multiple projects from one service):

import { factory } from "@botbye/express";

const sdk = factory();

sdk.init({
  // Use your project server-key
  serverKey: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
});

const result = await sdk.evaluate({
  type: "validate",
  request: { request: req, token },
});

Dev utilities

import { dev } from "@botbye/express";

// Change log verbosity at runtime
dev.setLoggerLevel("debug"); // "error" | "warn" | "info" | "debug" | "log"

Anti-Phishing

BotBye's anti-phishing detects look-alike sites that clone your pages to steal credentials. This integration serves the detection catcher from your own origin, so the BotBye domain stays hidden from the client.

• Anti-Phishing Protection overview
• Why a server-side integration is needed

Anti-phishing is identified by its own clientKey (available in your Phishing Project in the Dashboard), not the server key used by evaluate, so it is configured separately.

Init

Call phishing.init once at application startup, before serving any catcher requests.

import { phishing } from "@botbye/express";

phishing.init({
  // clientKey from your Phishing Project on the Admin Dashboard
  clientKey: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
});

Configuration

| Option | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | clientKey | string | Yes | clientKey from your Phishing Project on the Admin Dashboard | | url | string | No | Override BotBye API endpoint (default: https://verify.botbye.com) | | logger.level | "error" \| "warn" \| "info" \| "debug" \| "log" | No | Log level (default: "info") | | logger.logger | TLogger | No | Custom logger instance implementing { error, warn, info, debug, log } | | timeouts.fetchCatcher | number | No | Timeout in milliseconds for each fetchCatcher call |

Usage

Anti-phishing needs two routes on your own origin, each proxied through fetchCatcher:

• SVG route — serves the SVG catcher. This is the URL your client passes to getCatcher({ url }).
• PNG route — serves the PNG that the SVG references (via innerPngUrl).

The paths are arbitrary — name the routes however you like. Pass the raw request as request and the format. For the SVG, innerPngUrl must be the absolute URL of your PNG route — the browser loads that PNG directly from your origin.

import { phishing } from "@botbye/express";

// Absolute URL of your PNG endpoint — the SVG catcher references it through innerPngUrl.
const PNG_CATCHER_URL = "https://your-site.example/botbye-catcher.png";

// Endpoint 1 — SVG catcher (this URL goes into the catcher element on your pages)
app.get("/botbye-catcher.svg", async (req, res) => {
  const catcher = await phishing.fetchCatcher({
    request: req,
    format: "svg",
    innerPngUrl: PNG_CATCHER_URL, // absolute URL of the PNG endpoint below
  });

  res.status(catcher.status).set(catcher.headers).send(Buffer.from(catcher.body));
});

// Endpoint 2 — companion PNG the SVG above references via innerPngUrl (PNG_CATCHER_URL)
app.get("/botbye-catcher.png", async (req, res) => {
  const catcher = await phishing.fetchCatcher({ request: req, format: "png" });

  res.status(catcher.status).set(catcher.headers).send(Buffer.from(catcher.body));
});

We recommend embedding the SVG catcher: it is designed to keep tracking even when a phishing site copies all of your assets to its own infrastructure (the PNG route exists because the SVG catcher relies on it).

Multiple instances

phishing is a ready default instance. Use phishingFactory() to create isolated instances for multiple projects.

import { phishingFactory } from "@botbye/express";

const phishing = phishingFactory();
phishing.init({ clientKey: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" });

Documentation

• Web: https://botbye.com/docs/server-side/node-js/express
• Markdown (for AI tools and agents): https://botbye.com/docs/server-side/node-js/express.md