follow-redirects

What is follow-redirects?

The follow-redirects npm package is a drop-in replacement for Node.js' native http and https modules that automatically follows HTTP(S) redirects. It provides an easy way to make HTTP(S) requests without having to manually handle redirection logic.

What are follow-redirects's main functionalities?

HTTP/HTTPS request with automatic redirection

This code demonstrates how to make a simple HTTP GET request that automatically follows redirects using the follow-redirects package.

const http = require('follow-redirects').http;

http.get('http://example.com', (response) => {
  response.on('data', (chunk) => {
    console.log(chunk.toString());
  });
}).on('error', (err) => {
  console.error(err);
});

Customizing redirect options

This code snippet shows how to customize the behavior of follow-redirects by setting the maximum number of redirects to follow and adding a hook to log the URL before redirecting.

const https = require('follow-redirects').https;

const options = {
  maxRedirects: 10,
  beforeRedirect: (options, { headers }) => {
    console.log(`Redirecting to: ${options.hostname}${options.path}`);
  }
};

https.get('https://example.com', options, (response) => {
  // Handle response
}).on('error', (err) => {
  console.error(err);
});

Streaming response data

This example demonstrates how to stream data from an HTTP GET request to a file, which is useful for downloading files while following redirects.

const http = require('follow-redirects').http;
const fs = require('fs');

const file = fs.createWriteStream('downloaded_file.txt');

http.get('http://example.com/file', (response) => {
  response.pipe(file);
}).on('error', (err) => {
  console.error(err);
});

Other packages similar to follow-redirects

axios

Axios is a promise-based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js that supports automatic redirection. It provides a more feature-rich API compared to follow-redirects, including interceptors, request cancellation, and protection against XSRF.

request

Request is a simplified HTTP request client that supports redirection by default. It is no longer maintained, but it was once a popular choice for making HTTP requests in Node.js. It offered a higher-level API with convenience methods and support for forms and multipart file uploads.

got

Got is a human-friendly and powerful HTTP request library for Node.js. It handles redirections by default and provides a wide range of options for customization, retries, streams, and more. It is designed to be a more modern and feature-rich alternative to other HTTP request libraries.

node-fetch

Node-fetch is a light-weight module that brings the Fetch API to Node.js. It follows redirects by default and aims to provide a consistent API with the browser's fetch function. It is a good choice for those who prefer the Fetch API's promise-based syntax.

README

follow-redirects extends http and https with the ability to follow HTTP redirects painlessly. It does not modify the native modules but instead offers its own http/https modules which inherit from the native modules. If you want to automatically follow redirects, all you need to do is replace:

var http = require('http');

by

var http = require('follow-redirects').http;

Install

npm install follow-redirects

Usage

var http = require('follow-redirects').http;
var https = require('follow-redirects').https;

/* 
 * http and https are just like Node.js' http and https modules except 
 * that they follow redirects seamlessly. 
 */

http.get('http://bit.ly/900913', function (res) {
  res.on('data', function (chunk) {
    console.log(chunk);
  });
}).on('error', function (err) {
  console.error(err);
});

/*
 * You can optionnally pass the maxRedirect option which defaults to 5
 */

https.request({
  host: 'bitly.com',
  path: '/UHfDGO',
  maxRedirects: 3
}, function (res) {
  res.on('data', function (chunk) {
    console.log(chunk);
  });
}).on('error', function (err) {
  console.error(err);
});

License

MIT: http://olalonde.mit-license.org