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.

var download = require('download');

// download and extract `foo.tar.gz` into `bar/`
download('foo.tar.gz', 'bar', { extract: true });

// download and save `foo.exe` into `bar/foo.exe` with mode `0755`
download('foo.exe', 'bar', { mode: '0755' });

// download and save `foo.zip` into `bar/foobar.zip`
download({ url: 'foo.zip', name: 'foobar.zip' }, 'bar');

// download and save an array of files in `bar/`
var files = ['foo.jpg', 'bar.jpg', 'cat.jpg'];
download(files, 'bar');

// download, save and rename an array of files in `bar/`
var files = [{
    url: 'foo.jpg',
    name: 'foobar.jpg'
}, {
    url: 'cat.jpg',
    name: 'dog.jpg'
}];
download(files, 'bar');

API

download(url, dest, opts)

Download a file or an array of files to a given destination. Returns an EventEmitter that emits the following possible events:

• response — Relayed when the underlying http.ClientRequest emits the same event. Listeners called with a http.IncomingMessage instance.
• data — Relayed when the underlying http.IncomingMessage emits the same event. Listeners called with a Buffer instance.
• error — Relayed when the underlying http.ClientRequest emits the same event or when the response status code is not in the 200s. Listeners called with an Error instance (in the first case) or the response status code.
• close — Relayed when the underlying stream.Duplex emits the same event.

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.

ext

Type: String
Default: undefined

Sometimes you may be downloading an application/octet-stream and you want to extract it, eg it may be a zip, this option allows you to specify the extention of the file to be downloaded.

mode

Type: String
Default: undefined

Set mode on the downloaded files.

strip

Type: Number
Default: 0

Equivalent to --strip-components for tar.

CLI

$ npm install --global download

$ download --help

Usage
  $ download <url>
  $ cat <file> | download>

Example
  $ download --out dist --extract https://github.com/kevva/download/archive/master.zip
  $ cat urls.txt | download --out dist

Options
  -e, --extract           Extract archive files on download
  -o, --out               Path to download or extract the files to
  -s, --strip <number>    Strip path segments from root when extracting

License

MIT © Kevin Mårtensson