cookie

What is cookie?

The 'cookie' npm package is a simple, lightweight utility for parsing and serializing cookies in Node.js. It is designed to work with the HTTP server's cookie headers to read and write cookies on the server side.

What are cookie's main functionalities?

Parse Cookie Header

This feature allows you to parse the Cookie header string into an object where each property is a cookie name and its value is the cookie value. It automatically handles URL-encoded cookie values.

const cookie = require('cookie');
const cookies = cookie.parse('foo=bar; equation=E%3Dmc%5E2');

Serialize Cookie

This feature lets you serialize a cookie name-value pair into a Set-Cookie header string with optional attributes such as `HttpOnly`, `Max-Age`, and others. It is useful for setting cookies in HTTP responses.

const cookie = require('cookie');
const serializedCookie = cookie.serialize('foo', 'bar', { httpOnly: true, maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 });

Other packages similar to cookie

js-cookie

js-cookie is a simple, lightweight JavaScript API for handling cookies. It works well in all browsers and provides a clean API for cookie manipulation. Unlike 'cookie', js-cookie is primarily designed for client-side use and does not have built-in support for Node.js environments.

tough-cookie

tough-cookie is a more robust package for handling cookies in Node.js. It offers a wider range of features compared to 'cookie', including cookie jar support, which allows for storing and iterating over multiple cookies easily. It also handles parsing and serialization but with more options and considerations for security and cookie management.

cookies

The 'cookies' package is another alternative for handling cookies in Node.js and is often used with the Koa web framework. It provides a higher-level API for cookie management, including encryption and signing of cookie values, which 'cookie' does not offer out of the box.

README

cookie

cookie is a basic cookie parser and serializer. It doesn't make assumptions about how you are going to deal with your cookies. It basically just provides a way to read and write the HTTP cookie headers.

See RFC6265 for details about the http header for cookies.

how?

npm install cookie

var cookie = require('cookie');

var hdr = cookie.serialize('foo', 'bar');
// hdr = 'foo=bar';

var cookies = cookie.parse('foo=bar; cat=meow; dog=ruff');
// cookies = { foo: 'bar', cat: 'meow', dog: 'ruff' };

more

The serialize function takes a third parameter, an object, to set cookie options. See the RFC for valid values.

path

cookie path

expires

absolute expiration date for the cookie (Date object)

maxAge

relative max age of the cookie from when the client receives it (seconds)

domain

domain for the cookie

secure

true or false

httpOnly

true or false