simple-get ci npm downloads javascript style guide

Simplest way to make http get requests

features

This module is the lightest possible wrapper on top of node.js http, but supporting these essential features:

  • follows redirects
  • automatically handles gzip/deflate responses
  • supports HTTPS
  • supports specifying a timeout
  • supports convenience url key so there's no need to use url.parse on the url when specifying options
  • composes well with npm packages for features like cookies, proxies, form data, & OAuth

All this in < 100 lines of code.

install

1
npm install simple-get

usage

Note, all these examples also work in the browser with browserify.

simple GET request

Doesn't get easier than this:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
const get = require('simple-get')

get('http://example.com', function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(res.statusCode) // 200
  res.pipe(process.stdout) // `res` is a stream
})

even simpler GET request

If you just want the data, and don't want to deal with streams:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
const get = require('simple-get')

get.concat('http://example.com', function (err, res, data) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(res.statusCode) // 200
  console.log(data) // Buffer('this is the server response')
})

POST, PUT, PATCH, HEAD, DELETE support

For POST, call get.post or use option { method: 'POST' }.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: 'this is the POST body'
}
get.post(opts, function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  res.pipe(process.stdout) // `res` is a stream
})

A more complex example:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
const get = require('simple-get')

get({
  url: 'http://example.com',
  method: 'POST',
  body: 'this is the POST body',

  // simple-get accepts all options that node.js `http` accepts
  // See: http://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_http_request_options_callback
  headers: {
    'user-agent': 'my cool app'
  }
}, function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err

  // All properties/methods from http.IncomingResponse are available,
  // even if a gunzip/inflate transform stream was returned.
  // See: http://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_http_incomingmessage
  res.setTimeout(10000)
  console.log(res.headers)

  res.on('data', function (chunk) {
    // `chunk` is the decoded response, after it's been gunzipped or inflated
    // (if applicable)
    console.log('got a chunk of the response: ' + chunk)
  }))

})

JSON

You can serialize/deserialize request and response with JSON:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  method: 'POST',
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: {
    key: 'value'
  },
  json: true
}
get.concat(opts, function (err, res, data) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(data.key) // `data` is an object
})

Timeout

You can set a timeout (in milliseconds) on the request with the timeout option. If the request takes longer than timeout to complete, then the entire request will fail with an Error.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  timeout: 2000 // 2 second timeout
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

One Quick Tip

It's a good idea to set the 'user-agent' header so the provider can more easily see how their resource is used.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
const get = require('simple-get')
const pkg = require('./package.json')

get('http://example.com', {
  headers: {
    'user-agent': `my-module/${pkg.version} (https://github.com/username/my-module)`
  }
})

Proxies

You can use the tunnel module with the agent option to work with proxies:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
const get = require('simple-get')
const tunnel = require('tunnel')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  agent: tunnel.httpOverHttp({
    proxy: {
      host: 'localhost'
    }
  })
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Cookies

You can use the cookie module to include cookies in a request:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
const get = require('simple-get')
const cookie = require('cookie')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  headers: {
    cookie: cookie.serialize('foo', 'bar')
  }
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Form data

You can use the form-data module to create POST request with form data:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
const fs = require('fs')
const get = require('simple-get')
const FormData = require('form-data')
const form = new FormData()

form.append('my_file', fs.createReadStream('/foo/bar.jpg'))

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: form
}

get.post(opts, function (err, res) {})

Or, include application/x-www-form-urlencoded form data manually:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  form: {
    key: 'value'
  }
}
get.post(opts, function (err, res) {})

Specifically disallowing redirects

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com/will-redirect-elsewhere',
  followRedirects: false
}
// res.statusCode will be 301, no error thrown
get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Basic Auth

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
const user = 'someuser'
const pass = 'pa$$word'
const encodedAuth = Buffer.from(`${user}:${pass}`).toString('base64')

get('http://example.com', {
  headers: {
    authorization: `Basic ${encodedAuth}`
  }
})

OAuth

You can use the oauth-1.0a module to create a signed OAuth request:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
const get = require('simple-get')
const crypto  = require('crypto')
const OAuth = require('oauth-1.0a')

const oauth = OAuth({
  consumer: {
    key: process.env.CONSUMER_KEY,
    secret: process.env.CONSUMER_SECRET
  },
  signature_method: 'HMAC-SHA1',
  hash_function: (baseString, key) => crypto.createHmac('sha1', key).update(baseString).digest('base64')
})

const token = {
  key: process.env.ACCESS_TOKEN,
  secret: process.env.ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET
}

const url = 'https://api.twitter.com/1.1/statuses/home_timeline.json'

const opts = {
  url: url,
  headers: oauth.toHeader(oauth.authorize({url, method: 'GET'}, token)),
  json: true
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Throttle requests

You can use limiter to throttle requests. This is useful when calling an API that is rate limited.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
const simpleGet = require('simple-get')
const RateLimiter = require('limiter').RateLimiter
const limiter = new RateLimiter(1, 'second')

const get = (opts, cb) => limiter.removeTokens(1, () => simpleGet(opts, cb))
get.concat = (opts, cb) => limiter.removeTokens(1, () => simpleGet.concat(opts, cb))

var opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com'
}

get.concat(opts, processResult)
get.concat(opts, processResult)

function processResult (err, res, data) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(data.toString())
}

license

MIT. Copyright (c) Feross Aboukhadijeh.