go-fetch

A pluggable HTTP client for Node.JS.

go-fetch boasts a simple API but supports many features through plugins.

Features:

• Support for HTTP and HTTPS protocols
• Support for streaming
• Pluggable API with plugins for:
  • following redirects
  • compression
  • authentication
  • working with JSON
  • ...and lots more

Installation

npm install --save go-fetch

Usage

GET

const Client = require('go-fetch');
const json = require('go-fetch-json');

new Client()
  .use(json())
  .get('http://httpbin.org/get')
    .then(res => {
      console.log(res.toString());
      return res.json();
    })
    .then(json => console.log(json))
    .catch(err => console.error(err.stack))
;

POST

const Client = require('go-fetch');
const json = require('go-fetch-json');

new Client()
  .use(json())
  .post('http://httpbin.org/post', {msg: 'Go fetch!'})
    .then(res => {
      console.log(res.toString());
      return res.json();
    })
    .then(json => console.log(json))
    .catch(err => console.error(err.stack))
;

API

Client

A HTTP client.

new Client([options : object])

Create a new HTTP client.

Options:

.use(plugin : function) : Client

Extend the functionality with a plugin.

Parameters:

• plugin Required. A plugin function.

Returns:

The client.

.before(middleware : function) : Client

Extend the functionality with a middleware function which is run before a request is sent.

Parameters:

• middleware Required. A middleware function.

Returns:

The client.

.after(middleware : function) : Client

Extend the functionality with a middleware function which is run after a request is sent.

Parameters:

• middleware Required. A middleware function.

Returns:

The client.

.get(url : string, [headers : object]) : Promise

Send a HTTP GET request.

Parameters:

• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.

Returns:

A Promise. Resolves with a Response. Rejects with an Error.

.post(url : string, [headers : object], [body : *]) : Promise

Send a HTTP POST request.

Parameters:

• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.
• body Optional. The request body. May be a string or a stream.

Returns:

A Promise. Resolves with a Response. Rejects with an Error.

.put(url : string, [headers : object], [body : *]) : Promise

Send a HTTP PUT request.

Parameters:

• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.
• body Optional. The request body. May be a string or a stream.

Returns:

A Promise. Resolves with a Response. Rejects with an Error.

.delete(url : string, [headers : object]) : Promise

Send a HTTP DELETE request.

Parameters:

• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.

Returns:

A Promise. Resolves with a Response. Rejects with an Error.

.request(method : string, url : string, [headers : object], [body : *]) : Promise

Send a HTTP request.

Parameters:

• method Required. The request method.
• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.
• body Optional. The request body. May be a string or a stream.

Returns:

A Promise. Resolves with a Response. Rejects with an Error.

Request

A HTTP request.

new Request([options : object])

Create a new request.

Options:

• method Required. The request method.
• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.
• body Optional. The request body. May be a string or a stream.

.method : string

The request method.

.url : string

The request URL.

.headers : object

The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.

.body : *

The request body. May be a string or a stream.

Response

A HTTP response.

new Response([options : object])

Create a new request.

Options:

• status Required. The request method.
• url Required. The request URL.
• headers Optional. The request headers. An object containing key-value pairs.
• body Optional. The request body. May be a string or a stream.

.status : number

The response stats.

.reason : string

The response reason.

.headers : object

The response headers. An object containing key-value pairs.

.body : *

The response body. May be a string or a stream. Usually a stream.

.text(encoding : string) : Promise

Read the response body into a string.

Returns:

A Promise. Resolves with a string. Rejects with an Error.

Plugins and Middleware

Plugin functions are simple functions that take a client instance and do something with it. Plugin functions are called when they are .use()d.

Middleware functions are simple functions that take a Request or Response object and a next() callback as parameters, and does something with them. e.g. add helper methods to the Request or Response objects, modify the headers or body sent or retreived from the server.

Example

Here's an example plugin that adds a .error() method to the Response for asserting whether an error occurred with the request.

function plugin(client) {
  client.after((res, next) => {
    res.error = () =>
      this.status >= 400 && this.status < 600
    ;
    next(null, res);
  });
}

prefix-url

Prefix each request URL with another URL.

content-type

Parse the Content-Type header.

parse-body

Concatenate and parse the response stream.

auth

Basic HTTP auth.

oauth1

OAuth v1 authentication.

follow-redirects

Automatically follow redirects.

decompress

Decompress response bodies compressed with gzip.

useragent

Add a User-Agent header to every request.

Changelog

v3.1.0

• add: middleware can short-circuit the request to return a staged response
• break: middleware can no longer be synchronous, they must call next() - don't think anyone else will be using sync (its a bit ambiguous) but the tests were

v3.0.0

Almost a total rewrite.

• break: use promises instead of events and callbacks
• break: use middleware instead of events for plugins
• break: use simplified Request and Response objects

v2.0.0

• moved prefixUrl, contentType and body plugins into their own repositories
• changed the arguments passed to the before and after event handlers - handlers now receive a formal event object that allows propagation to be stopped and the request to be prevented
• adding some tests
• cleaning up documentation

To do

• Moar tests
• Plugins:
  • Cookie Jar
• Support for XMLHttpRequest/fetch in the browser

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2016 James Newell