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 effortlessly

Install

$ npm install --save download

Usage

If you're fetching an archive you can set extract: true in options and it'll extract it for you. You can also run your files through transform streams (e.g gulp plugins) using the .pipe() method.

var Download = require('download');
var imagemin = require('gulp-imagemin');
var progress = require('download-status');

var download = new Download({ extract: true, strip: 1 })
	.get('http://example.com/foo.zip')
	.get('http://example.com/cat.jpg')
	.pipe(imagemin({ progressive: true }))
	.dest('dest')
	.use(progress());

download.run(function (err, files, stream) {
	if (err) {
		throw err;
	}

	console.log('File downloaded successfully!');
});

API

new Download(opts)

Creates a new Download instance.

.get(url)

Add a file to download.

.dest(dir)

Set the destination folder to where your files will be downloaded.

.rename(name)

Rename your files using gulp-rename. Takes a String or a Function as argument.

.use(plugin)

Adds a plugin to the middleware stack.

.pipe(task)

Pipe your files through a transform stream (e.g a gulp plugin).

.run(cb)

Downloads your files and returns an error if something has gone wrong.

Options

You can define options accepted by the request module besides from the options below.

extract

Type: Boolean
Default: false

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

mode

Type: Number
Default: null

Set mode on the downloaded file.

strip

Type: Number
Default: 0

Equivalent to --strip-components for tar.

CLI

$ npm install --global download

$ download --help

Usage
  download <url>
  download <url> > <file>
  download --out <directory> <url>
  cat <file> | download --out <directory>

Example
  download http://foo.com/file.zip
  download http://foo.com/cat.png > dog.png
  download --extract --strip 1 --out dest http://foo.com/file.zip
  cat urls.txt | download --out dest

Options
  -e, --extract           Try decompressing the file
  -o, --out               Where to place the downloaded files
  -s, --strip <number>    Strip leading paths from file names on extraction

License

MIT © Kevin Mårtensson