rqt

rqt

rqt is a Node.js request library. It allows to send requests with or without data, parse a JSON response automatically and enables gzip compression by default.

Table Of Contents

• Table Of Contents
• API
• Options Type
• async rqt(url: string, options?: Options): string
• async jqt(url: string, options?: Options): Object
• async bqt(url: string, options?: Options): Buffer
• async aqt(url: string, options?: AqtOptions): AqtReturn
  • AqtOptions
  • AqtReturn
• Session Class
  • constructor(options?: SessionOptions): Session
    • SessionOptions
  • async rqt(location: string, options?: Options): String
  • async jqt(location: string, options?: Options): String
  • async bqt(location: string, options?: Options): String
  • async aqt(location: string, options?: AqtOptions): AqtReturn
• Copyright

API

The package can be used from Node.js as multiple functions for different kinds of requests to make. The main purpose of splitting the package into multiple functions is to be able to get the correct type inference, e.g., a string for rqt, buffer for bqt and an object for jqt, and make it visually perceivable what kind of data is expected from the server. A Session instance can be used to persist cookies across requests.

import rqt, { jqt, bqt, aqt, Session } from 'rqt'

Function	Meaning	Return type
rqt	String Request	Request a web page and return the result as a string.
jqt	JSON Request	Parse the result as a JSON object.
bqt	Binary Request	The result will be returned as a buffer.
aqt	Advanced Request	In addition to the body, the result will contain headers and status, an alias for @rqt/aqt.
Session	Session With Cookies	Proxies all other methods from this package, but remembers cookies.

Options Type

Each request function accept options to set headers and send data as the second argument after the URL.

import('http').OutgoingHttpHeaders OutgoingHttpHeaders

Options: Options for requests.

Name	Type	Description	Default
data	*	Optional data to send to the server with the request.	-
type	'form'|'json'	How to send data: json to serialise JSON data and form for url-encoded transmission with json mode by default.	'json'
headers	OutgoingHttpHeaders	Headers to use for the request.	-
compress	boolean	Add the Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate header to indicate to the server that it can send a compressed response.	true
method	string	What HTTP method to use in making of the request. When no method is given and data is present, defaults to POST.	-
timeout	number	Timeout after which the request should cancel.	-

async rqt(
  url: string,
  options?: Options,
): string

Request a web page, and return the result as a string.

import rqt from 'rqt'

const Request = async (url) => {
  const res = await rqt(url)
  console.log(res)
}

Hello World

Show Server

import idioCore from '@idio/core'

const Server = async () => {
  const { url } = await idioCore({
    /** @type {import('koa').Middleware} */
    async hello(ctx, next) {
      ctx.body = 'Hello World'
      await next()
    },
  }, { port: 0 })
  return url
}

export default Server

---

To send data to the server, add some options.

import rqt from 'rqt'

const Request = async (url) => {
  const res = await rqt(url, {
    headers: {
      'User-Agent': '@rqt/rqt (Node.js)',
    },
    data: {
      username: 'new-user',
      password: 'pass123',
    },
    type: 'form',
    method: 'PUT',
  })
  console.log(res)
}

You have requested with PUT:
Body: {
  "username": "new-user",
  "password": "pass123"
}
Headers: {
  "user-agent": "@rqt/rqt (Node.js)",
  "content-type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
  "content-length": "34",
  "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate",
  "host": "localhost:5001",
  "connection": "close"
}

Show Server

import idioCore from '@idio/core'

const Server = async () => {
  const { url } = await idioCore({
    bodyparser: { use: true },
    /** @type {import('koa').Middleware} */
    async test(ctx, next) {
      ctx.body = `You have requested with ${ctx.method}:
Body: ${JSON.stringify(ctx.request.body, null, 2)}
Headers: ${JSON.stringify(ctx.request.headers, null, 2)}
`
      await next()
    },
  }, { port: 5001 })
  return url
}

export default Server

async jqt(
  url: string,
  options?: Options,
): Object

Request a web page, and return the result as an object.

import { jqt } from 'rqt'

const Request = async (url) => {
  const res = await jqt(url)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2))
}

{
  "Hello": "World"
}

async bqt(
  url: string,
  options?: Options,
): Buffer

Request a web page, and return the result as a buffer.

import { bqt } from 'rqt'

const Request = async (url) => {
  const res = await bqt(url)
  console.log(res)
}

<Buffer 48 65 6c 6c 6f 20 57 6f 72 6c 64>

async aqt(
  url: string,
  options?: AqtOptions,
): AqtReturn

Request a web page and return additional information about the request. This method is also available as a standalone package: @rqt/aqt.

import('http').OutgoingHttpHeaders OutgoingHttpHeaders

AqtOptions: Configuration for requests.

Name	Type	Description	Default
data*	Object	Optional data to send to the server with the request.	-
type	'form'|'json'	How to send data: json to serialise JSON data and form for url-encoded transmission with json mode by default.	'json'
headers	OutgoingHttpHeaders	Headers to use for the request.	-
compress	boolean	Add the Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate header to indicate to the server that it can send a compressed response.	true
timeout	number	The timeout after which the request should fail.	-
method	string	What HTTP method to use in making of the request. When no method is given and data is present, defaults to POST.	-
binary	boolean	Whether to return a buffer instead of a string.	false
justHeaders	boolean	Whether to stop the request after response headers were received, without waiting for the data.	false

import('http').IncomingHttpHeaders IncomingHttpHeaders

AqtReturn

Name	Type	Description
body*	string|object|Buffer	The return from the server. In case the json content-type was set by the server, the response will be parsed into an object. If binary option was used for the request, a Buffer will be returned. Otherwise, a string response is returned.
headers*	IncomingHttpHeaders	Incoming headers returned by the server.
statusCode*	number	The status code returned by the server.
statusMessage*	string	The status message set by the server.

Session Class

The Session class allows to remember cookies set during all requests. It will maintain an internal state and update cookies when necessary.

constructor(
  options?: SessionOptions,
): Session

Create an instance of the Session class. All headers specified in the constructor will be present for each request (unless overridden by individual request options).

SessionOptions: Options for a session.

Name	Type	Description
host	string	The prefix to each request, such as https://rqt.biz.
headers	OutgoingHttpHeaders	Headers to use for each request.

The methods in the Session class are proxied to the respective methods in the API, but the cookies and session's headers will be set automatically.

import { Session } from 'rqt'

const SessionRequest = async (url) => {
  // 0. Create a Session.
  const session = new Session({
    host: url,
    headers: {
      'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 Node.js rqt',
    },
  })

  // 1. Request A JSON Page with Jqt.
  const { SessionKey } = await session.jqt('/StartSession')
  console.log('Session key: %s', SessionKey)

  // 2. Send Form Data And Get Headers With Aqt.
  const {
    statusCode,
    body,
    headers: { location },
  } = await session.aqt('/Login', {
    data: {
      LoginUserName: 'test',
      LoginPassword: 'test',
      sessionEncryptValue: SessionKey,
    },
    type: 'form',
  })
  console.log('%s Redirect: "%s"', statusCode, body)

  // 3. Request A Page As A String With Rqt.
  const res = await session.rqt(location)
  console.log('Page: "%s"', res)
}

Session key: Example-4736gst4yd
302 Redirect: "Redirecting to <a href="/Portal">/Portal</a>."
Page: "Hello, test"

Show Server

import idioCore from '@idio/core'

const Server = async () => {
  const { url, app, router } = await idioCore({
    /** @type {import('koa').Middleware} */
    async error(ctx, next) {
      try {
        await next()
      } catch ({ message }) {
        ctx.status = 400
        ctx.body = message
      }
    },
    session: { use: true, keys: ['example'] },
    bodyparser: { use: true },
  }, { port: 5002 })
  router.get('/StartSession', async (ctx, next) => {
    ctx.session.SessionKey = 'Example-4736gst4yd'
    ctx.body = {
      SessionKey: ctx.session.SessionKey,
    }
    await next()
  })
  router.post('/Login', async (ctx, next) => {
    const { sessionEncryptValue } = ctx.request.body
    if (!sessionEncryptValue) {
      throw new Error('Missing session key.')
    }
    if (sessionEncryptValue != ctx.session.SessionKey) {
      throw new Error('Incorrect session key.')
    }
    ctx.session.user = ctx.request.body.LoginUserName
    ctx.redirect('/Portal')
    await next()
  })
  router.get('/Portal', async (ctx, next) => {
    if (!ctx.session.user) {
      throw new Error('Not authorized.')
    }
    ctx.body = `Hello, ${ctx.session.user}`
    await next()
  })
  app.use(router.routes())
  return url
}

export default Server

async rqt(
  location: string,
  options?: Options,
): String

Request a page as a string. All options are the same as accepted by the rqt functions.

async jqt(
  location: string,
  options?: Options,
): String

Request a page as an object.

async bqt(
  location: string,
  options?: Options,
): String

Request a page as a buffer.

async aqt(
  location: string,
  options?: AqtOptions,
): AqtReturn

Request a page and return parsed body, headers and status.

Copyright

	© Art Deco for Rqt 2019		Tech Nation Visa Sucks

Changelog

3.1.2

• [fix] Update @rqt/aqt to set the method even with an empty body.