Convert curl to Node.js Axios

Converting curl to Node.js Axios

Axios is one of the most popular HTTP clients for Node.js and browsers, offering automatic JSON transformation, interceptors, and a clean API. It is the go-to library for many Node.js developers.

GET Request

curl:

curl https://api.example.com/users

Axios:

const axios = require("axios");

const { data } = await axios.get("https://api.example.com/users");

Axios automatically parses JSON responses, so you do not need to call .json() like with fetch.

POST with JSON

curl:

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Alice"}'

Axios:

const { data } = await axios.post("https://api.example.com/users", {
  name: "Alice",
});

Axios automatically serializes objects to JSON and sets the Content-Type header.

Custom Headers and Auth

curl:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer token123" \
  -H "X-Custom: value" \
  https://api.example.com/me

Axios:

const { data } = await axios.get("https://api.example.com/me", {
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer token123",
    "X-Custom": "value",
  },
});

File Upload

curl:

curl -F "file=@photo.jpg" https://api.example.com/upload

Axios:

const FormData = require("form-data");
const fs = require("fs");

const form = new FormData();
form.append("file", fs.createReadStream("photo.jpg"));

const { data } = await axios.post("https://api.example.com/upload", form, {
  headers: form.getHeaders(),
});

Error Handling

Axios throws errors for non-2xx status codes, unlike fetch:

try {
  const { data } = await axios.get("https://api.example.com/data");
} catch (error) {
  if (error.response) {
    console.log(error.response.status, error.response.data);
  }
}

Axios vs Fetch

Axios provides automatic JSON parsing, request/response interceptors, built-in timeout support, and better error handling out of the box, making it particularly well suited for complex Node.js applications.