feat!: Make route handlers functional decorators (#3436)

* make route handlers functional decorators

docs/release-notes/2.x-changelog.rst

@@ -3057,7 +3057,7 @@
         :pr: 1647
 
         Dependencies can now be used in the
-        :class:`~litestar.handlers.websocket_listener` hooks
+        :func:`~litestar.handlers.websocket_listener` hooks
         ``on_accept``, ``on_disconnect`` and the ``connection_lifespan`` context
         manager. The ``socket`` parameter is therefore also not mandatory anymore in
         those callables.
@@ -3208,7 +3208,7 @@
         :issue: 1615
 
         A bug was fixed that would cause a type error when using a
-        :class:`websocket_listener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`
+        :func:`websocket_listener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`
         in a ``Controller``
 
     .. change:: Add ``connection_accept_handler`` to ``websocket_listener``
@@ -3217,7 +3217,7 @@
         :issue: 1571
 
         Add a new ``connection_accept_handler`` parameter to
-        :class:`websocket_listener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`,
+        :func:`websocket_listener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`,
         which can be used to customize how a connection is accepted, for example to
         add headers or subprotocols
 
@@ -3305,7 +3305,7 @@
         appropriate event hooks - to use a context manager.
 
         The ``connection_lifespan`` argument was added to the
-        :class:`WebSocketListener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`, which accepts
+        :func:`WebSocketListener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`, which accepts
         an asynchronous context manager, which can be used to handle the lifespan of
         the socket.
 
@@ -3419,7 +3419,7 @@
         :pr: 1518
 
         Support for DTOs has been added to :class:`WebSocketListener <litestar.handlers.WebsocketListener>` and
-        :class:`WebSocketListener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`. A ``dto`` and ``return_dto`` parameter has
+        :func:`WebSocketListener <litestar.handlers.websocket_listener>`. A ``dto`` and ``return_dto`` parameter has
         been added, providing the same functionality as their route handler counterparts.
 
     .. change:: DTO based serialization plugin

docs/release-notes/whats-new-3.rst

@@ -142,3 +142,39 @@ If you were relying on this utility, you can define it yourself as follows:
 
     def is_sync_or_async_generator(obj: Any) -> bool:
         return isgeneratorfunction(obj) or isasyncgenfunction(obj)
+
+
+Removal of semantic HTTP route handler classes
+-----------------------------------------------
+
+The semantic ``HTTPRouteHandler`` classes have been removed in favour of functional
+decorators. ``route``, ``get``, ``post``, ``patch``, ``put``, ``head`` and ``delete``
+are now all decorator functions returning :class:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler`
+instances.
+
+As a result, customizing the decorators directly is not possible anymore. Instead, to
+use a route handler decorator with a custom route handler class, the ``handler_class``
+parameter to the decorator function can be used:
+
+Before:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    class my_get_handler(get):
+        ... # custom handler
+
+    @my_get_handler()
+    async def handler() -> Any:
+        ...
+
+After:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    class MyHTTPRouteHandler(HTTPRouteHandler):
+        ... # custom handler
+
+
+    @get(handler_class=MyHTTPRouteHandler)
+    async def handler() -> Any:
+        ...

docs/usage/routing/handlers.rst

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ handler :term:`decorators <decorator>` exported from Litestar.
 For example:
 
 .. code-block:: python
-    :caption: Defining a route handler by decorating a function with the :class:`@get() <.handlers.get>` :term:`decorator`
+    :caption: Defining a route handler by decorating a function with the :func:`@get() <.handlers.get>` :term:`decorator`
 
     from litestar import get
 
@@ -146,12 +146,11 @@ There are several reasons for why this limitation is enforced:
 HTTP route handlers
 -------------------
 
-The most commonly used route handlers are those that handle HTTP requests and responses.
-These route handlers all inherit from the :class:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler` class, which is aliased as the
-:term:`decorator` called :func:`~.handlers.route`:
+The :class:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler` is used to handle HTTP requests, and can be
+created with the :func:`~.handlers.route` :term:`decorator`:
 
 .. code-block:: python
-    :caption: Defining a route handler by decorating a function with the :class:`@route() <.handlers.route>`
+    :caption: Defining a route handler by decorating a function with the :func:`@route() <.handlers.route>`
       :term:`decorator`
 
     from litestar import HttpMethod, route
@@ -160,20 +159,24 @@ These route handlers all inherit from the :class:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler` c
     @route(path="/some-path", http_method=[HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST])
     async def my_endpoint() -> None: ...
 
-As mentioned above, :func:`@route() <.handlers.route>` is merely an alias for ``HTTPRouteHandler``,
-thus the below code is equivalent to the one above:
+The same can be achieved without a decorator, by using ``HTTPRouteHandler`` directly:
 
 .. code-block:: python
-    :caption: Defining a route handler by decorating a function with the
-      :class:`HTTPRouteHandler <.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler>` class
+    :caption: Defining a route handler creating an instance of
+      :class:`HTTPRouteHandler <.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler>`
 
     from litestar import HttpMethod
     from litestar.handlers.http_handlers import HTTPRouteHandler
 
 
-    @HTTPRouteHandler(path="/some-path", http_method=[HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST])
     async def my_endpoint() -> None: ...
 
+    handler = HTTPRouteHandler(
+        path="/some-path",
+        http_method=[HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST],
+        fn=my_endpoint
+    )
+
 
 Semantic handler :term:`decorators <decorator>`
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -189,8 +192,8 @@ which correlates with their name:
 * :func:`@post() <.handlers.post>`
 * :func:`@put() <.handlers.put>`
 
-These are used exactly like :func:`@route() <.handlers.route>` with the sole exception that you cannot configure the
-:paramref:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler.http_method` :term:`kwarg <argument>`:
+These are used exactly like :func:`@route() <.handlers.route>` with the sole exception that you don't need to configure
+the :paramref:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler.http_method` :term:`kwarg <argument>`:
 
 .. dropdown:: Click to see the predefined route handlers
 
@@ -240,11 +243,6 @@ These are used exactly like :func:`@route() <.handlers.route>` with the sole exc
         @delete(path="/resources/{pk:int}")
         async def delete_resource(pk: int) -> None: ...
 
-Although these :term:`decorators <decorator>` are merely subclasses of :class:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler` that pre-set
-the :paramref:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler.http_method`, using :func:`@get() <.handlers.get>`,
-:func:`@patch() <.handlers.patch>`, :func:`@put() <.handlers.put>`, :func:`@delete() <.handlers.delete>`, or
-:func:`@post() <.handlers.post>` instead of :func:`@route() <.handlers.route>` makes the code clearer and simpler.
-
 Furthermore, in the OpenAPI specification each unique combination of HTTP verb (e.g. ``GET``, ``POST``, etc.) and path
 is regarded as a distinct `operation <https://spec.openapis.org/oas/latest.html#operation-object>`_\ , and each
 operation should be distinguished by a unique :paramref:`~.handlers.HTTPRouteHandler.operation_id` and optimally
@@ -277,22 +275,25 @@ A WebSocket connection can be handled with a :func:`@websocket() <.handlers.Webs
        await socket.send_json({...})
        await socket.close()
 
-The :func:`@websocket() <.handlers.WebsocketRouteHandler>` :term:`decorator` is an alias of the
-:class:`~.handlers.WebsocketRouteHandler` class. Thus, the below code is equivalent to the one above:
+The :func:`@websocket() <.handlers.WebsocketRouteHandler>` :term:`decorator` can be used to create an instance of
+:class:`~.handlers.WebsocketRouteHandler`. Therefore, the below code is equivalent to the one above:
 
 .. code-block:: python
     :caption: Using the :class:`~.handlers.WebsocketRouteHandler` class directly
 
     from litestar import WebSocket
     from litestar.handlers.websocket_handlers import WebsocketRouteHandler
 
-
-    @WebsocketRouteHandler(path="/socket")
     async def my_websocket_handler(socket: WebSocket) -> None:
        await socket.accept()
        await socket.send_json({...})
        await socket.close()
 
+    my_websocket_handler = WebsocketRouteHandler(
+        path="/socket",
+        fn=my_websocket_handler,
+    )
+
 In difference to HTTP routes handlers, websocket handlers have the following requirements:
 
 #. They **must** declare a ``socket`` :term:`kwarg <argument>`.
@@ -332,8 +333,8 @@ If you need to write your own ASGI application, you can do so using the :func:`@
        )
        await response(scope=scope, receive=receive, send=send)
 
-Like other route handlers, the :func:`@asgi() <.handlers.asgi>` :term:`decorator` is an alias of the
-:class:`~.handlers.ASGIRouteHandler` class. Thus, the code below is equivalent to the one above:
+:func:`@asgi() <.handlers.asgi>` :term:`decorator` can be used to create an instance of
+:class:`~.handlers.ASGIRouteHandler`. Therefore, the code below is equivalent to the one above:
 
 .. code-block:: python
     :caption: Using the :class:`~.handlers.ASGIRouteHandler` class directly
@@ -343,8 +344,6 @@ Like other route handlers, the :func:`@asgi() <.handlers.asgi>` :term:`decorator
     from litestar.status_codes import HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST
     from litestar.types import Scope, Receive, Send
 
-
-    @ASGIRouteHandler(path="/my-asgi-app")
     async def my_asgi_app(scope: Scope, receive: Receive, send: Send) -> None:
        if scope["type"] == "http":
            if scope["method"] == "GET":
@@ -356,7 +355,10 @@ Like other route handlers, the :func:`@asgi() <.handlers.asgi>` :term:`decorator
        )
        await response(scope=scope, receive=receive, send=send)
 
-Limitations of ASGI route handlers
+    my_asgi_app = ASGIRouteHandler(path="/my-asgi-app", fn=my_asgi_app)
+
+
+ASGI route handler considerations
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 In difference to the other route handlers, the :func:`@asgi() <.handlers.asgi>` route handler accepts only three

docs/usage/websockets.rst

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ exceptions, and parsing incoming and serializing outgoing data. In addition to t
 low-level :class:`WebSocket route handler <.handlers.websocket>`, Litestar offers two
 high level interfaces:
 
-- :class:`websocket_listener <.handlers.websocket_listener>`
+- :func:`websocket_listener <.handlers.websocket_listener>`
 - :class:`WebSocketListener <.handlers.WebsocketListener>`
 
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ type of data which should be received, and it will be converted accordingly.
 
 .. note::
     Contrary to WebSocket route handlers, functions decorated with
-    :class:`websocket_listener <.handlers.websocket_listener>` don't have to be
+    :func:`websocket_listener <.handlers.websocket_listener>` don't have to be
     asynchronous.
 
 

litestar/channels/plugin.py

@@ -116,11 +116,11 @@ def on_app_init(self, app_config: AppConfig) -> AppConfig:
         if self._create_route_handlers:
             if self._arbitrary_channels_allowed:
                 path = self._handler_root_path + "{channel_name:str}"
-                route_handlers = [WebsocketRouteHandler(path)(self._ws_handler_func)]
+                route_handlers = [WebsocketRouteHandler(path, fn=self._ws_handler_func)]
             else:
                 route_handlers = [
-                    WebsocketRouteHandler(self._handler_root_path + channel_name)(
-                        self._create_ws_handler_func(channel_name)
+                    WebsocketRouteHandler(
+                        self._handler_root_path + channel_name, fn=self._create_ws_handler_func(channel_name)
                     )
                     for channel_name in self._channels
                 ]

litestar/controller.py

@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ def get_route_handlers(self) -> list[BaseRouteHandler]:
             route_handler = deepcopy(self_handler)
             # at the point we get a reference to the handler function, it's unbound, so
             # we replace it with a regular bound method here
-            route_handler._fn = types.MethodType(route_handler._fn, self)
+            route_handler.fn = types.MethodType(route_handler.fn, self)
             route_handler.owner = self
             route_handlers.append(route_handler)
 

litestar/handlers/asgi_handlers.py

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Mapping, Sequence
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Mapping, Sequence
 
 from litestar.exceptions import ImproperlyConfiguredException
 from litestar.handlers.base import BaseRouteHandler
@@ -13,24 +13,20 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from litestar.connection import ASGIConnection
     from litestar.types import (
+        AsyncAnyCallable,
         ExceptionHandlersMap,
         Guard,
-        MaybePartial,  # noqa: F401
     )
 
 
 class ASGIRouteHandler(BaseRouteHandler):
-    """ASGI Route Handler decorator.
-
-    Use this decorator to decorate ASGI applications.
-    """
-
     __slots__ = ("is_mount",)
 
     def __init__(
         self,
         path: str | Sequence[str] | None = None,
         *,
+        fn: AsyncAnyCallable,
         exception_handlers: ExceptionHandlersMap | None = None,
         guards: Sequence[Guard] | None = None,
         name: str | None = None,
@@ -39,17 +35,20 @@ def __init__(
         signature_namespace: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None,
         **kwargs: Any,
     ) -> None:
-        """Initialize ``ASGIRouteHandler``.
+        """Route handler for ASGI routes.
 
         Args:
+            path: A path fragment for the route handler function or a list of path fragments. If not given defaults to
+                ``/``.
+            fn: The handler function.
+
+                .. versionadded:: 3.0
             exception_handlers: A mapping of status codes and/or exception types to handler functions.
             guards: A sequence of :class:`Guard <.types.Guard>` callables.
             name: A string identifying the route handler.
             opt: A string key mapping of arbitrary values that can be accessed in :class:`Guards <.types.Guard>` or
                 wherever you have access to :class:`Request <.connection.Request>` or
                 :class:`ASGI Scope <.types.Scope>`.
-            path: A path fragment for the route handler function or a list of path fragments. If not given defaults to
-                ``/``
             is_mount: A boolean dictating whether the handler's paths should be regarded as mount paths. Mount path
                 accept any arbitrary paths that begin with the defined prefixed path. For example, a mount with the path
                 ``/some-path/`` will accept requests for ``/some-path/`` and any sub path under this, e.g.
@@ -61,6 +60,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.is_mount = is_mount
         super().__init__(
             path,
+            fn=fn,
             exception_handlers=exception_handlers,
             guards=guards,
             name=name,
@@ -101,4 +101,50 @@ async def handle(self, connection: ASGIConnection[ASGIRouteHandler, Any, Any, An
         await self.fn(scope=connection.scope, receive=connection.receive, send=connection.send)
 
 
-asgi = ASGIRouteHandler
+def asgi(
+    path: str | Sequence[str] | None = None,
+    *,
+    exception_handlers: ExceptionHandlersMap | None = None,
+    guards: Sequence[Guard] | None = None,
+    name: str | None = None,
+    opt: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None,
+    is_mount: bool = False,
+    signature_namespace: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None,
+    handler_class: type[ASGIRouteHandler] = ASGIRouteHandler,
+    **kwargs: Any,
+) -> Callable[[AsyncAnyCallable], ASGIRouteHandler]:
+    """Create an :class:`ASGIRouteHandler`.
+
+    Args:
+        path: A path fragment for the route handler function or a sequence of path fragments. If not given defaults
+            to ``/``
+        exception_handlers: A mapping of status codes and/or exception types to handler functions.
+        guards: A sequence of :class:`Guard <.types.Guard>` callables.
+        name: A string identifying the route handler.
+        opt: A string keyed mapping of arbitrary values that can be accessed in :class:`Guards <.types.Guard>` or
+            wherever you have access to :class:`Request <.connection.Request>` or
+            :class:`ASGI Scope <.types.Scope>`.
+        signature_namespace: A mapping of names to types for use in forward reference resolution during signature
+            modelling.
+        is_mount: A boolean dictating whether the handler's paths should be regarded as mount paths. Mount path
+            accept any arbitrary paths that begin with the defined prefixed path. For example, a mount with the path
+            ``/some-path/`` will accept requests for ``/some-path/`` and any sub path under this, e.g.
+            ``/some-path/sub-path/`` etc.
+        handler_class: Route handler class instantiated by the decorator
+        **kwargs: Any additional kwarg - will be set in the opt dictionary.
+    """
+
+    def decorator(fn: AsyncAnyCallable) -> ASGIRouteHandler:
+        return handler_class(
+            fn=fn,
+            path=path,
+            exception_handlers=exception_handlers,
+            guards=guards,
+            name=name,
+            opt=opt,
+            is_mount=is_mount,
+            signature_namespace=signature_namespace,
+            **kwargs,
+        )
+
+    return decorator