tessl/npm-node-fetch
A light-weight module that brings Fetch API to Node.js
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http-client.mddocs/
HTTP Client Operations
Core fetch functionality for making HTTP requests with full Web Standards compatibility plus Node.js-specific enhancements like compression, redirect control, and HTTP agent configuration.
Capabilities
fetch Function
The main HTTP client function that performs network requests and returns a Promise resolving to a Response object.
/**
* Perform an HTTP(S) fetch request
* @param url - URL string, URL object, or Request instance
* @param options - Request configuration options
* @returns Promise resolving to Response object
*/
function fetch(url: string | URL | Request, options?: RequestInit): Promise<Response>;Basic Usage:
import fetch from 'node-fetch';
// GET request
const response = await fetch('https://api.github.com/users/octocat');
const userData = await response.json();
// POST request
const postResponse = await fetch('https://httpbin.org/post', {
method: 'POST',
body: 'Hello World',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' }
});Request Configuration
The RequestInit interface provides comprehensive configuration options for HTTP requests.
interface RequestInit {
// Standard Fetch API options
method?: string;
headers?: HeadersInit;
body?: BodyInit | null;
redirect?: 'follow' | 'error' | 'manual';
signal?: AbortSignal | null;
referrer?: string;
referrerPolicy?: ReferrerPolicy;
// Node.js specific extensions
agent?: http.Agent | ((parsedUrl: URL) => http.Agent);
compress?: boolean;
follow?: number;
size?: number;
highWaterMark?: number;
insecureHTTPParser?: boolean;
}Usage Examples:
// Request with custom headers and JSON body
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'Authorization': 'Bearer token123'
},
body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'John', age: 30 })
});
// Request with custom HTTP agent
import https from 'https';
const agent = new https.Agent({
keepAlive: true,
timeout: 30000
});
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data', {
agent: agent
});HTTP Methods
Support for all standard HTTP methods through the method option.
type HTTPMethod = 'GET' | 'POST' | 'PUT' | 'DELETE' | 'HEAD' | 'OPTIONS' | 'PATCH';Usage Examples:
// Different HTTP methods
const getResponse = await fetch('https://api.example.com/users');
const postResponse = await fetch('https://api.example.com/users', {
method: 'POST',
body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'Alice' }),
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
});
const putResponse = await fetch('https://api.example.com/users/123', {
method: 'PUT',
body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'Alice Updated' }),
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
});
const deleteResponse = await fetch('https://api.example.com/users/123', {
method: 'DELETE'
});Request Body Types
Support for various body types including strings, buffers, streams, and form data.
type BodyInit = Blob | Buffer | URLSearchParams | FormData | ReadableStream | string;Usage Examples:
// String body
await fetch('https://httpbin.org/post', {
method: 'POST',
body: 'Plain text content'
});
// JSON body
await fetch('https://httpbin.org/post', {
method: 'POST',
body: JSON.stringify({ key: 'value' }),
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
});
// Form data body
const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('field1', 'value1');
formData.append('field2', 'value2');
await fetch('https://httpbin.org/post', {
method: 'POST',
body: formData
});
// Stream body
import { createReadStream } from 'fs';
await fetch('https://httpbin.org/post', {
method: 'POST',
body: createReadStream('./file.txt'),
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' }
});Redirect Handling
Control how redirects are handled during requests.
type RedirectMode = 'follow' | 'error' | 'manual';Usage Examples:
// Follow redirects automatically (default)
const response = await fetch('https://github.com/node-fetch/node-fetch', {
redirect: 'follow'
});
// Throw error on redirect
try {
await fetch('https://github.com/node-fetch/node-fetch', {
redirect: 'error'
});
} catch (error) {
console.log('Redirect encountered:', error.message);
}
// Handle redirects manually
const response = await fetch('https://github.com/node-fetch/node-fetch', {
redirect: 'manual'
});
if (response.status >= 300 && response.status < 400) {
const location = response.headers.get('location');
console.log('Redirect to:', location);
}Request Timeout and Cancellation
Use AbortSignal to cancel requests or implement timeouts.
interface AbortSignal {
readonly aborted: boolean;
addEventListener(type: 'abort', listener: () => void): void;
removeEventListener(type: 'abort', listener: () => void): void;
}Usage Examples:
// Request cancellation with AbortController
const controller = new AbortController();
const signal = controller.signal;
// Cancel request after 5 seconds
setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 5000);
try {
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/slow-endpoint', {
signal: signal
});
} catch (error) {
if (error.name === 'AbortError') {
console.log('Request was cancelled');
}
}
// Request timeout helper
function fetchWithTimeout(url, options = {}, timeout = 5000) {
const controller = new AbortController();
const id = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeout);
return fetch(url, {
...options,
signal: controller.signal
}).finally(() => clearTimeout(id));
}Node.js Specific Options
Advanced configuration options specific to Node.js environments.
interface NodeRequestOptions {
agent?: http.Agent | ((parsedUrl: URL) => http.Agent);
compress?: boolean;
follow?: number;
size?: number;
highWaterMark?: number;
insecureHTTPParser?: boolean;
}Usage Examples:
// Custom compression settings
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/large-data', {
compress: false // Disable automatic decompression
});
// Custom redirect limit
const response = await fetch('https://example.com/redirect-chain', {
follow: 5 // Follow maximum 5 redirects
});
// Response size limit
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/large-file', {
size: 1024 * 1024 // Limit response to 1MB
});
// Custom stream buffer size
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/stream', {
highWaterMark: 64 * 1024 // 64KB buffer
});Default Headers
Headers automatically added by node-fetch when not explicitly provided.
interface DefaultHeaders {
'Accept-Encoding': 'gzip, deflate, br'; // When compress: true
'Accept': '*/*';
'Content-Length': string; // Calculated automatically
'Host': string; // From target URL
'Transfer-Encoding': 'chunked'; // When body is stream
'User-Agent': 'node-fetch';
}Override defaults:
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data', {
headers: {
'User-Agent': 'MyApp/1.0',
'Accept': 'application/json'
}
});