simple-get

What is simple-get?

The simple-get npm package is designed to provide a straightforward way to make HTTP requests in Node.js. It is built to be minimalistic but flexible, allowing users to perform GET, POST, and other HTTP methods with ease. It supports features like redirects, streaming, and simple error handling.

What are simple-get's main functionalities?

GET Request

This code sample demonstrates how to perform a simple GET request to a specified URL and stream the response to stdout. It also shows basic error handling.

const get = require('simple-get')

get('http://example.com', function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(res.statusCode) // 200
  res.pipe(process.stdout) // Stream the response to stdout
})

POST Request

This example illustrates how to send a POST request with a body of data. It demonstrates setting options for the request, including the URL, method, and body.

const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: 'some data',
  method: 'POST'
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(res.statusCode) // 200
  res.pipe(process.stdout) // Stream the response to stdout
})

Handling Redirects

This snippet shows how to handle redirects automatically by setting the 'followRedirects' option to true. It makes a request and follows any redirects, eventually logging the response status code of the final URL.

const get = require('simple-get')

get({ url: 'http://example.com', followRedirects: true }, function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log('Response from final URL:', res.statusCode)
  res.pipe(process.stdout)
})

Other packages similar to simple-get

axios

Axios is a promise-based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. It provides a more feature-rich API compared to simple-get, including support for interceptors, automatic transforms for JSON data, and client-side protection against XSRF. It is more suitable for complex applications that require detailed configuration of HTTP requests.

node-fetch

node-fetch is a light-weight module that brings the Fetch API to Node.js. It offers a similar simplicity to simple-get but is designed to closely mimic the browser's fetch API, making it ideal for developers familiar with front-end development. Unlike simple-get, node-fetch returns promises and supports the Fetch API's full feature set.

request

Request is a comprehensive HTTP client for Node.js that supports HTTPS, redirects, streams, and more. Although it has been deprecated, it was known for its rich feature set and flexibility. Compared to simple-get, request offered a more extensive set of options for configuring requests, making it suitable for complex scenarios.

README

simple-get

Simplest way to make http get requests

features

This module is the lightest possible wrapper on top of node.js http, but supporting these essential features:

• follows redirects
• automatically handles gzip/deflate responses
• supports HTTPS
• supports specifying a timeout
• supports convenience url key so there's no need to use url.parse on the url when specifying options
• composes well with npm packages for features like cookies, proxies, form data, & OAuth

All this in < 100 lines of code.

install

npm install simple-get

usage

Note, all these examples also work in the browser with browserify.

simple GET request

Doesn't get easier than this:

const get = require('simple-get')

get('http://example.com', function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(res.statusCode) // 200
  res.pipe(process.stdout) // `res` is a stream
})

even simpler GET request

If you just want the data, and don't want to deal with streams:

const get = require('simple-get')

get.concat('http://example.com', function (err, res, data) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(res.statusCode) // 200
  console.log(data) // Buffer('this is the server response')
})

POST, PUT, PATCH, HEAD, DELETE support

For POST, call get.post or use option { method: 'POST' }.

const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: 'this is the POST body'
}
get.post(opts, function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err
  res.pipe(process.stdout) // `res` is a stream
})

A more complex example:

const get = require('simple-get')

get({
  url: 'http://example.com',
  method: 'POST',
  body: 'this is the POST body',

  // simple-get accepts all options that node.js `http` accepts
  // See: http://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_http_request_options_callback
  headers: {
    'user-agent': 'my cool app'
  }
}, function (err, res) {
  if (err) throw err

  // All properties/methods from http.IncomingResponse are available,
  // even if a gunzip/inflate transform stream was returned.
  // See: http://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_http_incomingmessage
  res.setTimeout(10000)
  console.log(res.headers)

  res.on('data', function (chunk) {
    // `chunk` is the decoded response, after it's been gunzipped or inflated
    // (if applicable)
    console.log('got a chunk of the response: ' + chunk)
  }))

})

JSON

You can serialize/deserialize request and response with JSON:

const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  method: 'POST',
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: {
    key: 'value'
  },
  json: true
}
get.concat(opts, function (err, res, data) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(data.key) // `data` is an object
})

Timeout

You can set a timeout (in milliseconds) on the request with the timeout option. If the request takes longer than timeout to complete, then the entire request will fail with an Error.

const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  timeout: 2000 // 2 second timeout
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

One Quick Tip

It's a good idea to set the 'user-agent' header so the provider can more easily see how their resource is used.

const get = require('simple-get')
const pkg = require('./package.json')

get('http://example.com', {
  headers: {
    'user-agent': `my-module/${pkg.version} (https://github.com/username/my-module)`
  }
})

Proxies

You can use the tunnel module with the agent option to work with proxies:

const get = require('simple-get')
const tunnel = require('tunnel')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  agent: tunnel.httpOverHttp({
    proxy: {
      host: 'localhost'
    }
  })
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Cookies

You can use the cookie module to include cookies in a request:

const get = require('simple-get')
const cookie = require('cookie')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  headers: {
    cookie: cookie.serialize('foo', 'bar')
  }
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Form data

You can use the form-data module to create POST request with form data:

const fs = require('fs')
const get = require('simple-get')
const FormData = require('form-data')
const form = new FormData()

form.append('my_file', fs.createReadStream('/foo/bar.jpg'))

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  body: form
}

get.post(opts, function (err, res) {})

Or, include application/x-www-form-urlencoded form data manually:

const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com',
  form: {
    key: 'value'
  }
}
get.post(opts, function (err, res) {})

Specifically disallowing redirects

const get = require('simple-get')

const opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com/will-redirect-elsewhere',
  followRedirects: false
}
// res.statusCode will be 301, no error thrown
get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Basic Auth

const user = 'someuser'
const pass = 'pa$$word'
const encodedAuth = Buffer.from(`${user}:${pass}`).toString('base64')

get('http://example.com', {
  headers: {
    authorization: `Basic ${encodedAuth}`
  }
})

OAuth

You can use the oauth-1.0a module to create a signed OAuth request:

const get = require('simple-get')
const crypto  = require('crypto')
const OAuth = require('oauth-1.0a')

const oauth = OAuth({
  consumer: {
    key: process.env.CONSUMER_KEY,
    secret: process.env.CONSUMER_SECRET
  },
  signature_method: 'HMAC-SHA1',
  hash_function: (baseString, key) => crypto.createHmac('sha1', key).update(baseString).digest('base64')
})

const token = {
  key: process.env.ACCESS_TOKEN,
  secret: process.env.ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET
}

const url = 'https://api.twitter.com/1.1/statuses/home_timeline.json'

const opts = {
  url: url,
  headers: oauth.toHeader(oauth.authorize({url, method: 'GET'}, token)),
  json: true
}

get(opts, function (err, res) {})

Throttle requests

You can use limiter to throttle requests. This is useful when calling an API that is rate limited.

const simpleGet = require('simple-get')
const RateLimiter = require('limiter').RateLimiter
const limiter = new RateLimiter(1, 'second')

const get = (opts, cb) => limiter.removeTokens(1, () => simpleGet(opts, cb))
get.concat = (opts, cb) => limiter.removeTokens(1, () => simpleGet.concat(opts, cb))

var opts = {
  url: 'http://example.com'
}

get.concat(opts, processResult)
get.concat(opts, processResult)

function processResult (err, res, data) {
  if (err) throw err
  console.log(data.toString())
}

license

MIT. Copyright (c) Feross Aboukhadijeh.