From 40197d6831ac2ef209f6ac3aaeca1edade060f66 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: krzysdz <krzysdz@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2025 01:09:59 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] docs(migrating-5): document req.params changes in 5.x

Fixes #2090
---
 en/guide/migrating-5.md | 19 ++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/en/guide/migrating-5.md b/en/guide/migrating-5.md
index 99a5b8fb9f..faf0e3e1ca 100755
--- a/en/guide/migrating-5.md
+++ b/en/guide/migrating-5.md
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ You can find the list of available codemods [here](https://github.com/expressjs/
   <li><a href="#app.router">app.router</a></li>
   <li><a href="#req.body">req.body</a></li>
   <li><a href="#req.host">req.host</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#req.params">req.params</a></li>
   <li><a href="#req.query">req.query</a></li>
   <li><a href="#res.clearCookie">res.clearCookie</a></li>
   <li><a href="#res.status">res.status</a></li>
@@ -506,7 +507,7 @@ const server = app.listen(8080, '0.0.0.0', (error) => {
 
 The `app.router` object, which was removed in Express 4, has made a comeback in Express 5. In the new version, this object is a just a reference to the base Express router, unlike in Express 3, where an app had to explicitly load it.
 
-<h3 id="req.body">req.body</h3> 
+<h3 id="req.body">req.body</h3>
 
 The `req.body` property returns `undefined` when the body has not been parsed. In Express 4, it returns `{}` by default.
 
@@ -514,6 +515,22 @@ The `req.body` property returns `undefined` when the body has not been parsed. I
 
 In Express 4, the `req.host` function incorrectly stripped off the port number if it was present. In Express 5, the port number is maintained.
 
+<h3 id="req.params">req.params</h3>
+
+Parameters specified as wildcards are represented as arrays of segments:
+
+```js
+app.get('/*splat', (req, res) => {
+  // GET /foo/bar
+  console.dir(req.params)
+  // => [Object: null prototype] { splat: [ 'foo', 'bar' ] }
+})
+```
+
+Optional parameters that are not matched do not have a key in `req.params`. In 4.x an unmatched wildcard would be an empty string and a `:` parameter made optional by `?` had a key with value `undefined`.
+
+The object has null prototype.
+
 <h3 id="req.query">req.query</h3>
 
 The `req.query` property is no longer a writable property and is instead a getter. The default query parser has been changed from "extended" to "simple".

From 50de3edb3d995331f68b85b929070f4cf5b168a4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: krzysdz <krzysdz@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2025 17:32:04 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] docs(api-5): document wildcard parameters in req.params

---
 _includes/api/en/5x/req-params.md | 14 +++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/_includes/api/en/5x/req-params.md b/_includes/api/en/5x/req-params.md
index 2f48c828d4..d68a4f24c5 100644
--- a/_includes/api/en/5x/req-params.md
+++ b/_includes/api/en/5x/req-params.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <h3 id='req.params'>req.params</h3>
 
-This property is an object containing properties mapped to the [named route "parameters"](/{{ page.lang }}/guide/routing.html#route-parameters). For example, if you have the route `/user/:name`, then the "name" property is available as `req.params.name`. This object defaults to `{}`.
+This property is an object containing properties mapped to the [named route "parameters"](/{{ page.lang }}/guide/routing.html#route-parameters). For example, if you have the route `/user/:name`, then the "name" property is available as `req.params.name`. This object defaults to `Object.create(null)`.
 
 ```js
 // GET /user/tj
@@ -8,6 +8,18 @@ console.dir(req.params.name)
 // => "tj"
 ```
 
+Properties corresponding to wildcard parameters are arrays containing separate path segments split on `/`:
+
+```js
+app.get('/files/*file', (req, res) => {
+  console.dir(req.params.file)
+  // GET /files/note.txt
+  // => [ 'note.txt' ]
+  // GET /files/images/image.png
+  // => [ 'images', 'image.png' ]
+})
+```
+
 When you use a regular expression for the route definition, capture groups are provided in the array using `req.params[n]`, where `n` is the n<sup>th</sup> capture group.
 
 ```js