# Middleware

### What is a Middleware

Middleware provides a way to hook the workflow execution and therefore also Agent and RAG, since they too are workflows. 

The core Workflow execution involves calling nodes based on the events returned by other nodes. Middleware exposes hooks to step inside `before` and `after`  the execution of nodes:

<figure><img src="https://3903156011-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FGHx4l2LknIex7vFIUg1R%2Fuploads%2FPhEdX3C3TkEM9TtU7lN9%2Fmiddleware.png?alt=media&#x26;token=d9a13cda-5e25-475f-b9b9-385bf69c3f52" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### What can middleware do?

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Control</strong></td><td>Transform prompts, tool selection, and output formatting.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Guardrails</strong></td><td>Add retries, rate limits, implement guardrails, prompt rejection.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Monitor</strong></td><td>Track agent behavior with logging, analytics, and debugging.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Creating Middleware

You can use the command below to create a middleware  class:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Unix" %}

```bash
vendor/bin/neuron make:middleware CustomMiddleware
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Windows" %}

```powershell
.\vendor\bin\neuron make:middleware CustomMiddleware
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

A new class will be created in your project with the default middleware structure:

```php
<?php

namespace App\Neuron\Middleware;

class CustomMiddleware implements WorkflowMiddleware
{
    /**
     * Execute before the node runs.
     */
    public function before(NodeInterface $node, Event $event, WorkflowState $state): void
    {
        // ...
    }
    
    /**
     * Execute after the node runs.
     */
    public function after(NodeInterface $node, Event $result, WorkflowState $state): void
    {
        // ...
    }
}
```

### Registering Middleware

If you would like to assign middleware to specific nodes, you may override the  `middleware` method when defining the workflow:

```php
class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    /**
     * Define the nodes middleware.
     */
    protected function middleware(): array
    {
        return [
            NodeOne::class => new CustomMiddleware(),
        ];
    }
}
```

You can also assign multiple middleware to a node, defining an array:

```php
class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    /**
     * Define the nodes middleware.
     */
    protected function middleware(): array
    {
        return [
            NodeOne::class => [
                new CustomMiddleware(),
                new AnotherMiddleware(),
            ]
        ];
    }
}
```

### Global Middleware

If you want middleware to run before and after every node, you may append it to the global middleware stack in the workflow:

```php
class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    /**
     * Define the global middleware.
     */
    protected function globalMiddleware(): array
    {
        return [
            new CustomMiddleware(),
        ];
    }
}
```

### Examples

Neuron provides prebuilt middleware for common use cases, like tool approval, or context summarization. You can check them out in the Agent section:

{% content-ref url="../agent/middleware" %}
[middleware](https://docs.neuron-ai.dev/agent/middleware)
{% endcontent-ref %}