sanity-ioget-it
Generic HTTP request library for node.js (>= 14) and modern browsers.
Motivation
We wanted an HTTP request library that worked transparently in Node.js and browsers with a small browser bundle footprint.
To be able to use the same library in a range of different applications with varying requirements, but still keep the bundle size down, we took inspiration from http-client which cleverly composes functionality into the client.
Features
Using a middleware approach, get-it has the following feature set:
- Promise, observable and low-level event-emitter patterns
- Automatic retrying with customizable number of attempts and filtering functionality
- Cancellation of requests
- Configurable connect/socket timeouts
- Automatic parsing of JSON responses
- Automatic stringifying of JSON request bodies
- Automatic gzip unwrapping in Node
- Automatically prepend base URL
- Automatically follow redirects (configurable number of retries)
- Upload/download progress events
- Treat HTTP status codes >=400 as errors
- Debug requests with environment variables/localStorage setting
Usage
How get-it behaves depends on which middleware you've loaded, but common to all approaches is the setup process.
// Import the core get-it package, which is used to generate a requester
import {getIt} from 'get-it'
// And import whatever middleware you want to use
import {base, jsonResponse, promise} from 'get-it/middleware'
// Now compose the middleware you want to use
const request = getIt([base('https://api.your.service/v1'), jsonResponse()])
// You can also register middleware using `.use(middleware)`
request.use(promise())
// Now you're ready to use the requester:
request({url: '/projects'})
.then((response) => console.log(response.body))
.catch((err) => console.error(err))
In most larger projects, you'd probably make a httpClient.js or similar, where you would instantiate the requester and export it for other modules to reuse.
Options
url- URL to the resource you want to reach.method- HTTP method to use for request. Default:GET, unless a body is provided, in which case the default isPOST.headers- Object of HTTP headers to send. Note that cross-origin requests in IE9 will not be able to set these headers.body- The request body. If thejsonRequestmiddleware is used, it will serialize to a JSON string before sending. Otherwise, it tries to send whatever is passed to it using the underlying adapter. Supported types:- Browser:
string,ArrayBufferView,Blob,Document,FormData(deprecated:ArrayBuffer) - Node:
string,Buffer,Iterable,AsyncIterable,stream.Readable
- Browser:
bodySize- Size of body, in bytes. Only used in Node when passing aReadStreamas body, in order for progress events to emit status on upload progress.timeout- Timeout in millisecond for the request. Takes an object withconnectandsocketproperties.maxRedirects- Maximum number of redirects to follow before giving up. Note that this is only used in Node, as browsers have built-in redirect handling which cannot be adjusted. Default:5rawBody- Set totrueto return the raw value of the response body, instead of a string. The type returned differs based on the underlying adapter:- Browser:
ArrayBuffer - Node:
Buffer
- Browser:
Return values
By default, get-it will return an object of single-channel event emitters. This is done in order to provide a low-level API surface that others can build upon, which is what the promise and observable middlewares do. Unless you really know what you're doing, you'll probably want to use those middlewares.
Response objects
get-it does not expose the low-level primitives such as the XMLHttpRequest or http.IncomingMessage instances. Instead, it provides a response object with the following properties:
{
// body is `string` by default. When `rawBody` is set to true, will return `ArrayBuffer` in browsers and `Buffer` in Node.js.
body: 'Response body'
// The final URL, after following redirects (configure `maxRedirects` to change the number of redirects to follow)
url: 'http://foo.bar/baz',
method: 'GET',
statusCode: 200,
statusMessage: 'OK',
headers: {
'Date': 'Fri, 09 Dec 2016 14:55:32 GMT',
'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=120'
}
}
Promise API
For the most part, you simply have to register the middleware and you should be good to go. Sometimes you only need the response body, in which case you can set the onlyBody option to true. Otherwise the promise will be resolved with the response object mentioned earlier.
import {getIt} from 'get-it'
import {promise} from 'get-it/middleware'
const request = getIt([promise({onlyBody: true})])
request({url: 'http://foo.bar/api/projects'})
.then((projects) => console.log(projects))
.catch((err) => console.error(err))
Cancelling promise-based requests
With the Promise API, you can cancel requests using a cancel token. This API is based on the Cancelable Promises proposal, which was at Stage 1 before it was withdrawn.
You can create a cancel token using the CancelToken.source factory as shown below:
import {promise} from 'get-it/middleware'
const request = getIt([promise()])
const source = promise.CancelToken.source()
request
.get({
url: 'http://foo.bar/baz',
cancelToken: source.token,
})
.catch((err) => {
if (promise.isCancel(err)) {
console.log('Request canceled', err.message)
} else {
// handle error
}
})
// Cancel the request (the message parameter is optional)
source.cancel('Operation canceled by the user')
Observable API
The observable API requires you to pass an Observable-implementation that you want to use. Optionally, you can register it under the global Observable, but this is not recommended.
import {getIt} from 'get-it'
import {observable} from 'get-it/middleware'
import {Observable as RxjsObservable} from 'rxjs'
const request = getIt()
request.use(
observable({
implementation: RxjsObservable,
}),
)
const observer = request({url: 'http://foo.bar/baz'})
.filter((ev) => ev.type === 'response')
.subscribe({
next: (res) => console.log(res.body),
error: (err) => console.error(err),
})
// If you want to cancel the request, simply unsubscribe:
observer.unsubscribe()
It's important to note that the observable middleware does not only emit response objects, but also progress events. You should always filter to specify what you're interested in receiving. Every emitted value has a type property.
Prior art
This module was inspired by the great work of others:
License
MIT-licensed. See LICENSE.
Release new version
Run the "CI & Release" workflow. Make sure to select the main branch and check "Release new version".
Semantic release will only release on configured branches, so it is safe to run release on any branch.