Getting corrupted binary responses instead of JSON from Hono gateway service with axios

Hi everyone! I'm having an issue with my Hono-based API gateway that forwards requests to microservices. I’m receiving corrupted binary responses instead of the expected JSON when using axios or fetch from my React Native frontend.

Problem:
Requests return binary-like data instead of proper JSON:

"\u0015`\u0000..."

"\u0015`\u0000..."

Expected response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Login successful",
  "data": { "session": { "access_token": "eyJ...", "refresh_token": "eyJ...", "expires_at": 1234567890 } }
}

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Login successful",
  "data": { "session": { "access_token": "eyJ...", "refresh_token": "eyJ...", "expires_at": 1234567890 } }
}

Environment:
- Hono v4.8.4
- Cloudflare Workers
- Axios v1.10.0
- React Native with Expo

Setup:
My gateway service built with Hono forwards requests to the auth microservice, which returns proper JSON when called directly.

Gateway code:

const response = await axiosInstance.request(axiosConfig);
return new Response(JSON.stringify(response.data), {
  status: response.status,
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": response.headers["content-type"] || "application/json",
  },
});

const response = await axiosInstance.request(axiosConfig);
return new Response(JSON.stringify(response.data), {
  status: response.status,
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": response.headers["content-type"] || "application/json",
  },
});

What I've tried:
1. Different axios versions
2. Native fetch
3. Direct calls to the auth service (worked fine)
4. Adjusting Content-Type headers
5. Checking network response (shows corrupted data)
6. Added JSON parsing in interceptors
7. Verified auth service with curl

Key observations:
- Works fine when calling the auth service directly.
- The issue only occurs through the Hono gateway.
- Both axios and fetch result in the same corrupted response.

Could this be related to response compression, double JSON stringification, header forwarding, or a Cloudflare Workers behavior? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Hono•7mo ago•

2 replies

Nduka Success

Getting corrupted binary responses instead of JSON from Hono gateway service with axios

"\u0015`\u0000..."

"\u0015`\u0000..."

Expected response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Login successful",
  "data": { "session": { "access_token": "eyJ...", "refresh_token": "eyJ...", "expires_at": 1234567890 } }
}

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Login successful",
  "data": { "session": { "access_token": "eyJ...", "refresh_token": "eyJ...", "expires_at": 1234567890 } }
}

const response = await axiosInstance.request(axiosConfig);
return new Response(JSON.stringify(response.data), {
  status: response.status,
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": response.headers["content-type"] || "application/json",
  },
});

const response = await axiosInstance.request(axiosConfig);
return new Response(JSON.stringify(response.data), {
  status: response.status,
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": response.headers["content-type"] || "application/json",
  },
});

Getting corrupted binary responses instead of JSON from Hono gateway service with axios

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