express-batch-requests

A simple way to add HTTP batch request support to your node API using express middleware.

Batching HTTP requests allows client applications to issue multiple HTTP requests to your API using just one HTTP request - reducing network chatter, latency etc. This middleware extracts and executes each request individually, either in parallel or in series, and returns the result of each request as an array item.

Installation

npm install --save express-batch-requests

Usage

var express = require('express');
var server = express();
var expressBatchRequests = require('express-batch-requests');
 
// mount the batch handler middleware
server.post('/batch', expressBatchRequests);
 
// typical API route 1
server.get('/route1', function (req, res) {
    res.send("Hello World");
});
 
// typical API route 2
server.post('/route2', function (req, res) {
    res.json({
        fullName: req.body.firstName + ' ' + req.body.lastName
    });
});
 
// start the server
server.listen(8080, function () {
    console.log('Web server listening on port 8080');
});

Request

Requests are executed in parallel by default, to execute them in series add executeInSeries: true. Likewise, to include the original request object with each result add includeRequestsInResponse: true to the request.

To copy HTTP headers from the batch request onto each of the batch request such as authorization, add mergeHeaders with a string containing a comma separated list of header names (in lower case).

{
    "executeInSeries": true,
    "includeRequestsInResponse": true,
    "mergeHeaders": "authorization, x-requested-by",
    "batch": [
        {
            "url": "/route1",
            "method": "GET"
        },
        {
            "url": "/route2",
            "method": "POST",
            "headers": {
                "User-Agent": "space-command"
            },
            "body": {
                "firstName": "Buzz",
                "lastName": "Lightyear"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Response

[
    {
        "request": {
            "url": "/route1",
            "method": "GET"
        },
        "response": {
            "code": 200,
            "headers": {
                "content-type": "text/plain"
            },
            "body": "Hello World"
        }
    },
    {
        "request": {
            "url": "/route2",
            "method": "POST",
            "headers": {
                "User-Agent": "space-command"
            },
            "body": {
                "firstName": "Buzz",
                "lastName": "Lightyear"
            }
        },
        "response": {
            "code": 200,
            "headers": {
                "content-type": "application/json"
            },
            "body": {
                "fullName": "Buzz Lightyear"
            }
        }
    }
]

Star the repo

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History

For change-log, check releases.

License

Licensed under MIT License © John Doherty