node-fetch

A light-weight module that brings window.fetch to node.js

Motivation

I like the notion of Matt Andrews' isomorphic-fetch: it bridges the API gap between client-side and server-side http requests, so developers have less to worry about.

But I believe the term isomorphic is generally misleading: it gives developers a false sense of security that their javascript code will run happily on both controlled server environment as well as uncontrollable user browsers. When the latter is only true for a small subset of modern browsers, not to mention quirks in native implementation.

Instead of implementing XMLHttpRequest in node to run browser-specific fetch polyfill, why not go from node's http to fetch API directly? Node has native stream support, your browserify build targets (browsers) don't, so underneath they are going to be vastly different anyway.

IMHO, it's safer to be aware of javascript runtime's strength and weakness, than to assume they are a unified platform under a stable spec.

Hence node-fetch.

Features

• Stay consistent with window.fetch API.
• Make conscious trade-off when following whatwg fetch spec and stream spec implementation details, document known difference.
• Use native promise, but allow substituting it with [insert your favorite promise library].

Limits

• Work in progress, much like the spec itself.
• See LIMITS.md

(If you spot a undocumented difference, feel free to open an issue. Pull requests are welcomed too!)

Install

npm install node-fetch --save

Usage

TODO

License

MIT

Acknowledgement

Thanks to github/fetch for providing a solid implementation reference.