Express req.query always empty

This simple code:

const express = require('express');const app = express();app.get('/us01', function(req, res) {    console.log(req.query);    res.send("ok");});app.listen(80);

Then, accessed by http://localhost/us01?a=1 produces this output in the console:

{ a: '1' }

Or, if I use:

console.log('query: ' + JSON.stringify(req.query));

Then, I see this in the console:

query: {"a":"1"}

So, clearly something else is wrong in your code.

"localhost:9200/us01?a=1" req.query should get me {a:1}, correct?

It should get you query: {"a":"1"} if the code you show is running on port 9200 on localhost.

Is this a common thing?

No. Something other than the code you show is busted because there's nothing wrong with just that bit of code.

What am I missing here?

Things to examine:

1. Are you getting any output in the console when you hit any of your expected routes?
2. Can you prove that your server is running and your browser is hitting your route handlers?
3. If you just do console.log(req.query), what output do you get?
4. Are you absolutely sure that you've killed any prior servers and started the server that corresponds to the code you show. People sometimes get fooled by a prior version of the server that is still running and doesn't actually contain the code they think they are running.
5. Are you 100% sure you are running your server on the desired port that matches the port in the URL you are using.
6. When all else fails, sometimes a computer reboot will make sure no prior versions of anything are still running.