How do you send an HTTP request from Node.js?

Node.jsJunior~1 min read

1. The modern way - `fetch()` (Node.js 18+)

Starting with Node.js 18, the standard fetch() is available globally, exactly like in the browser.

javascript

const res = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'Tim', age: 30 }),
});

const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Advantages:

works with no extra libraries;
returns a Promise;
supports async/await;
handles GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH;
automatically supports HTTP/HTTPS, a stream body, JSON, and more.

Important: if you're on Node <18, you need to install a package:

javascript

npm install node-fetch

and import it:

javascript

import fetch from 'node-fetch';

2. The low-level way - `http.request()` / `https.request()`

If you need more control (headers, streaming, chunk handling), use the built-in node:http or node:https module.

A GET request example:

javascript

import http from 'node:http';

const options = {
  hostname: 'example.com',
  path: '/data',
  method: 'GET',
};

const req = http.request(options, (res) => {
  let body = '';
  res.on('data', (chunk) => (body += chunk));
  res.on('end', () => console.log('Response:', body));
});

req.on('error', (err) => console.error('Error:', err));
req.end();

A POST request example:

javascript

import https from 'node:https';

const data = JSON.stringify({ name: 'Tim' });

const options = {
  hostname: 'api.example.com',
  path: '/users',
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(data),
  },
};

const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
  let body = '';
  res.on('data', (chunk) => (body += chunk));
  res.on('end', () => console.log('Response:', body));
});

req.on('error', (err) => console.error(err));
req.write(data);
req.end();

Here you manually control everything: headers, body, status code, and you read the response body as a stream.

3. Streaming downloads (via `pipeline`)

You can use fetch() or http.get() together with streams, for example to download a file without loading it entirely into memory:

javascript

import { createWriteStream } from 'node:fs';
import { pipeline } from 'node:stream/promises';

const res = await fetch('https://example.com/image.jpg');
await pipeline(res.body, createWriteStream('image.jpg'));
console.log('File saved');

4. Via third-party libraries (for convenience)

If you need features like interceptors, timeouts, automatic JSON, and retries, use one of the popular libraries:

Axios

javascript

npm install axios

javascript

import axios from 'axios';

const res = await axios.post('https://api.example.com/users', { name: 'Tim' });
console.log(res.data);

Automatically serializes JSON
Handles errors and statuses easily
Supports interceptors, timeouts, cookies, multipart, etc.

Got

javascript

npm install got

javascript

import got from 'got';

const res = await got.post('https://api.example.com/users', {
  json: { name: 'Tim' },
  responseType: 'json',
});
console.log(res.body);

5. What to choose

Approach	When to use it
`fetch()`	95% of cases, the standard, modern, simple
`http.request()`	When you need full control (headers, sockets, streams)
`axios` / `got`	When the project is large and needs a convenient API and interceptors
`pipeline()`	For streamed files (uploads, downloads)

6. In short

In Node.js you can send an HTTP request:

the modern way: fetch() (built in since Node 18);

the low-level way: via http.request() / https.request();

the convenient way: via axios or got.

It all depends on whether you want simplicity (fetch) or maximum control (request).

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