download

What is download?

The 'download' npm package is a utility that allows you to download files over HTTP or HTTPS. It is a high-level function that abstracts away the complexity of making HTTP requests and handling streams, making it easier to download files.

What are download's main functionalities?

Downloading files

This feature allows you to download files from a given URL and save them to a specified directory. The function returns a promise that resolves when the download is complete.

const download = require('download');

download('https://example.com/somefile.png', 'dist').then(() => {
    console.log('File downloaded!');
});

Downloading and extracting archives

This feature enables the downloading of archive files like ZIP or TAR and automatically extracts them to a specified directory.

const download = require('download');

download('https://example.com/somearchive.zip', 'dist', { extract: true }).then(() => {
    console.log('Archive downloaded and extracted!');
});

Downloading files with options

This feature allows you to pass custom options such as headers, query parameters, and more, providing additional control over the HTTP request.

const download = require('download');

const options = {
    headers: { 'User-Agent': 'my-custom-agent' }
};

download('https://example.com/somefile.png', 'dist', options).then(() => {
    console.log('File downloaded with custom headers!');
});

Other packages similar to download

axios

Axios is a promise-based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. It provides more general HTTP request capabilities compared to 'download' and is often used for API interactions rather than file downloads.

got

Got is a human-friendly and powerful HTTP request library for Node.js. Similar to 'download', it supports streaming but offers a more extensive set of HTTP capabilities, making it suitable for a wider range of HTTP requests.

request

Request is a simplified HTTP request client for Node.js. Although it has been deprecated, it was once a popular choice for making HTTP requests and supports file downloads, but with less abstraction compared to 'download'.

node-fetch

Node-fetch is a light-weight module that brings the Fetch API to Node.js. It is similar to 'download' in that it can be used to download files, but it is designed to closely mimic the browser fetch API.

README

download

Download and extract files

See download-cli for the command-line version.

Install

$ npm install download

Usage

const fs = require('fs');
const download = require('download');

(async () => {
	await download('http://unicorn.com/foo.jpg', 'dist');

	fs.writeFileSync('dist/foo.jpg', await download('http://unicorn.com/foo.jpg'));

	download('unicorn.com/foo.jpg').pipe(fs.createWriteStream('dist/foo.jpg'));

	await Promise.all([
		'unicorn.com/foo.jpg',
		'cats.com/dancing.gif'
	].map(url => download(url, 'dist')));
})();

Proxies

To work with proxies, read the got documentation.

API

download(url, destination?, options?)

Returns both a Promise<Buffer> and a Duplex stream with additional events.

url

Type: string

URL to download.

destination

Type: string

Path to where your file will be written.

options

Type: Object

Same options as got and decompress in addition to the ones below.

extract

Type: boolean
Default: false

If set to true, try extracting the file using decompress.

filename

Type: string

Name of the saved file.