lets-fetch

Single and parallel requests with retrying and error handling.

Install

npm install lets-fetch

This module can be used for Node.js as well as browsers using Browserify.

Usage

const fetch = require('lets-fetch')
 
// Async / await
async function myFunction () {
  // Get a single url
  let json = await fetch.single('http://...')
  // -> {foo: bar}
    
  // Get multiple urls
  let json = await fetch.many(['http://...', 'http://...'])
  // -> [{foo: bar}, {foobar: 1}]
    
  // Error handling
  try {
      let json = await fetch.single('http://...')
  } catch (err) {
      // Something went wrong :(
      // err.response is the last response object (so you can e.g. access err.response.status)
      // err.content is the parsed body of the response, if available
  }
}
 
// Promises
fetch.single('http://...')
 .then(x => console.log('content:', x))
 .catch(e => console.log('error:', e))

Options

You can pass single and many an optional options parameter. The available options with their corresponding defaults are:

let options = {
  // response type, can be "json", "text" or "response"
  type: 'json',
  
  // request method to use
  method: 'GET',
  
  // request headers, format {a:1} or {b:[1,2,3]}
  headers: {},
  
  // request body, can be a string or readable stream
  body: null,
  
  // wait time in between requests (only for "many")
  // as soon as this is set, requests will be sent in series instead of parallel
  waitTime: undefined,
  
  // request/response timeout in ms, 0 to disable 
  // (!) only available in node.js environments
  timeout: 0
}
 
await fetch.single('http://...', options)
await fetch.many(['http://...'], options)

Retrying

You can set a custom function that gets the current number of tries as well as the last error object to decide if the request should be retried. By default, retrying is disabled.

// Retry until we get a valid response
fetch.retry(() => true)
 
// Try to get the response a total of three times
fetch.retry((tries) => tries <= 3)
 
// Try to get the response a total of three times if the
// status code equals to "Internal Server Error"
fetch.retry((tries, err) => tries <= 3 && err.response.status === 500)

You can also set a function that defines how long the module should wait between each unsuccessful try. By default this is set to instant retries.

// Don't wait between failed tries
fetch.retryWait(() => false)
 
// Wait a static 100ms between each failed try
fetch.retryWait(() => 100)
 
// Wait based on the number of failed tries
fetch.retryWait(tries => tries * 100)

Logging

You can set a custom function that gets called whenever a request is finished (both success and failures).

fetch.logger((info) => console.log(info))
// -> { duration: 282, retries: 0, status: 200, url: 'http://test.com/test' }

Mocking

If you want to mock lets-fetch in your tests, you can replace it with the included basic mock module, e.g. using rewire.

const mock = require('lets-fetch/mock')
const myModule = require('./test.js')
 
// Overwrite the "fetch" variable in the module to test
myModule.__set__('fetch', mock)
 
// Add a response (e.g. json or a string). This is based on a "stack" system,
// every response will only get output once. "single" will output the first 
// response added, "many" will loop through multiple single calls.
// "single" and "many" will still return promises and 
// have to be handled appropriately in your tests (.then or await)
mock.addResponse({text: 'Everything fine!'})
 
// Add a response error (response, content)
mock.addResponseError({status: 500}, {text: 'Oh no.'})
 
// Enable / disable mocking. When mocking is disabled the requests
// get passed through to the real module and get send over the internet
mock.enableMocking(true)
 
// Reset all responses and collected requests
mock.reset()
 
// Get all requested urls
mock.urls()
 
// Get the url of the last request
mock.lastUrl()
 
// Get the requested options
mock.options()
 
// Get the options of the last request
mock.lastOptions()

Tests

npm test

Licence

MIT

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Thanks to @pguth for the name idea. 👍