Registry / devops / node-rest-api-client

node-rest-api-client

library4.0.0jsnpmunverified

A simple-to-use HTTP REST API client for Node.js supporting GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, and custom methods. Version 4.0.0 provides transparent HTTP/HTTPS connections, basic authentication, proxy support, dynamic path and query parameters, custom request serializers (JSON, XML, url-encoded), custom response parsers (JSON, XML), compressed response handling (gzip, deflate), and follow-redirects. It allows registering remote API operations as client methods. Latest stable release has irregular release cadence; key differentiator is its simple callback-based API without promises, but it lacks TypeScript support.

devops

npm install node-rest-api-client

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · NODE-REST-API-CLIE

node-rest-api-client

devopsjavascriptv4.0.0

harness data pending

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

No compatibility data collected yet for this library.

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

Client

✓ const { Client } = require('node-rest-client');

✗ const Client = require('node-rest-client');

CommonJS export is { Client } not default export. Requires require destructuring.

Client (ESM)

✓ import { Client } from 'node-rest-client';

✗ import Client from 'node-rest-client';

Package is CJS only; ESM import works via interop but named import is correct.

Methods from client instance

✓ client.registerMethod('myMethod', url, 'GET'); client.methods.myMethod(callback);

Shows direct GET, registered method with path substitution, and POST with JSON data and headers.

const { Client } = require('node-rest-client'); const client = new Client(); // Direct GET client.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1', function(data, response) { console.log('Data:', data); console.log('Response status:', response.statusCode); }); // Registered method client.registerMethod('getPost', 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/${id}', 'GET'); const args = { path: { id: 2 }, headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json' } }; client.methods.getPost(args, function(data, response) { console.log('Registered method data:', data); }); // POST example const postArgs = { data: { title: 'foo', body: 'bar', userId: 1 }, headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } }; client.post('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', postArgs, function(data, response) { console.log('POST response:', data); });

Debug

Known issues

gotchaPOST, PUT, PATCH requests require 'Content-Type' header in args, otherwise they may fail or behave unexpectedly.

fix

Always set 'Content-Type' header (e.g., 'application/json') in the headers argument for methods that send a body.

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchaWhen using registered methods, path parameters like ${id} must be provided in args.path, but the URL string must use '${}' syntax, not ':'.

fix

Use template literal-style placeholders in URL: 'http://example.com/resource/${id}' and pass { path: { id: value } }.

affects: >=3.0.0

gotchaThe callback receives response as second argument, not first. Many users expect (response, data) order.

fix

Use function(data, response) { ... } with data first, response second.

affects: >=1.0.0

deprecatedThe option 'followRedirects' is deprecated; redirects are now always followed using the follow-redirects package.

fix

Remove followRedirects option; redirect handling is automatic.

affects: >=4.0.0

gotchaDefault serializer for request data is 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' when Content-Type is not set, even for POST with JSON objects.

fix

Explicitly set headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } when sending JSON payloads.

affects: >=1.0.0

Errors

Common errors & fixes

TypeError: client.get is not a function

Importing the package as default export instead of destructuring { Client }.

fix

Use const { Client } = require('node-rest-client');

Error: Cannot find module 'follow-redirects'

Missing dependency when using npm versions that don't auto-install peer deps.

fix

Run npm install node-rest-client --save, which will install follow-redirects as a dependency.

The request body is empty or not sent

Missing or incorrect Content-Type header for POST/PUT/PATCH requests.

fix

Add headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } to the args object.

Cannot read property 'get' of undefined

Accessing client.methods before registering any method or using unregistered method name.

fix

Call client.registerMethod(name, url, verb) before accessing client.methods.name.

Upgrade

Version history

4.0.0latest on npm

Audit

Dependencies

follow-redirectsrequiredHandles HTTP redirects transparently

xml2jsoptionalProvides XML response parsing when content-type is XML

Agent activity

4 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/theleapofcode/node-rest-client ↗

packagenode-rest-api-client ↗

homepagehttps://github.com/theleapofcode/node-rest-client#readme ↗