How to Eliminate Request Context Prop Drilling in Node.js APIs with AsyncLocalStorage (2026 Guide)

You've probably written this before: async function getUser ( userId : string , requestId : string , logger : Logger ) { logger . info ( ' Fetching user ' , { requestId , userId }); const user = await db . query ( ' SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = $1 ' , [ userId ]); return processUser ( user , requestId , logger ); // pass it down... again } async function processUser ( user : User , requestId : string , logger : Logger ) { logger . info ( ' Processing user ' , { requestId }); // still passing it return enrichUser ( user , requestId , logger ); // and again } This is context prop drilling — the Node.js equivalent of React's most notorious anti-pattern. Every function in your call stack needs requestId , userId , or traceId , so you thread it through every argument list. It bloats function signatures, leaks implementation details, and makes refactoring painful. In 2026, there's a better way: AsyncLocalStorage , Node.js's built-in solution for propagating request-scoped context without p