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  3. Node.js — How to Download a File

Node.js — How to Download a File

You can download a file in Node.js in different ways. Node.js comes with built-in functions to download and save a file to your local disk. You can combine the integrated https and fs modules to download files from the Internet.

This tutorial shows you how to use native Node.js features to download a file from the Internet to your local computer.

Node.js Series Overview

  1. Increase the Memory Limit for Your Process
  2. Why You Should Add “node” in Your Travis Config
  3. Create a PDF from HTML with Puppeteer and Handlebars
  4. Create Your Own Custom Error
  5. Retrieve a Request’s IP Address in Node.js
  6. Detect the Node.js Version in a Running Process or App
  7. How to Base64 Encode/Decode a Value in Node.js
  8. Check if a Value Is Null or Undefined in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. How to Fix “Uncaught SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module”
  10. Fix „Socket Hang Up“ Errors
  11. Nested Destructuring in JavaScript or Node.js
  1. String Replace All Appearances
  2. Remove All Whitespace From a String in JavaScript
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  8. How to Check if a Value is a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. Check If a String Includes All Strings in JavaScript/Node.js/TypeScript
  10. Check if a Value is a String in JavaScript and Node.js
  11. Limit and Truncate a String to a Given Length in JavaScript and Node.js
  12. Split a String into a List of Characters in JavaScript and Node.js
  13. How to Generage a UUID in Node.js
  14. Reverse a String in JavaScript or Node.js
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  20. Get the Part After First Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  21. Get the Part Before First Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  22. Get the Part Before Last Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  23. Get the Part After Last Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  24. How to Count Words in a File
  25. How to Shuffle the Characters of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  26. Append Characters or Words to a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  27. Check if a String is Empty in JavaScript or Node.js
  28. Ensure a String Ends with a Given Character in JavaScript or Node.js
  29. Left-Trim Characters Off a String in JavaScript or Node.js
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  33. Prepend Characters or Words to a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  34. Check if a String is a Number
  35. Convert a String to Buffer
  1. Filter Data in Streams
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  14. How to Exit, Stop, or Break an Array#forEach Loop in JavaScript or Node.js
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  1. Callback and Promise Support in your Node.js Modules
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  7. Overview of Promise-Based APIs in Node.js
  8. Thenables and Creating Your Own Promises
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  2. Write a JSON Object to a File
  3. Create a Custom “toJSON” Function in Node.js and JavaScript
  4. Securely Parse JSON
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  5. Use Numeric Separators for Better Readability
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  1. How to Merge Objects
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  3. How to CamelCase Keys of an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
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  13. Unset an Object Property
  1. Get a File’s Created Date
  2. Get a File’s Last Modified or Updated Date of a File
  3. How to Create an Empty File
  4. Check If a Path or File Exists
  5. How to Rename a File
  6. Check If a Path Is a Directory
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  8. Retrieve the Path to the User’s Home Directory
  9. How to Touch a File
  10. Read File Content as String
  11. Check If a Directory Is Empty
  12. How to Create a Directory (and Parents If Needed)
  13. Get a File‘s Extension
  14. Get the Size of a File
  15. Get a File Name (With or Without Extension)
  16. Read a JSON File
  17. Delete a File From Disk
  18. Check if a Path is a SymLink (Symbolic Link)
  19. Check if a Path is a Socket
  20. Check if a Path is a FIFO File (Named Pipe)
  21. Check if a Path is a File URL
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  5. Constant for Platform-Specific Newline
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  7. Retrieve the OS Directory for Temporary Files
  1. Calculate an MD5 Hash
  2. Retrieve the List of Supported Hash Algorithms
  3. Calculate a SHA256 Hash
  4. Calculate a SHA512 Hash

Download a File in Node.js

Node.js’ https module allows you to send requests HTTPS requests. The given https.get method accepts the resource URL and an options object. In this example, we’re using the file URL on the Internet and skip the request options because we don’t need them.

The https.get method provides the response instance in a callback function. The response gives you access to the response status code, headers, and payload. Determine whether the request is successful and pipe the response data into a local file.

You can create a write stream piping the response data into a local target file. Here’s a sample function to download a file in Node.js:

import Fs from 'fs'  
import Https from 'https'

/**
 * Download a file from the given `url` into the `targetFile`.
 *
 * @param {String} url
 * @param {String} targetFile
 *
 * @returns {Promise<void>}
 */
async function downloadFile (url, targetFile) {  
  return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    Https.get(url, response => {
      const code = response.statusCode ?? 0

      if (code >= 400) {
        return reject(new Error(response.statusMessage))
      }

      // handle redirects
      if (code > 300 && code < 400 && !!response.headers.location) {
        return resolve(
          downloadFile(response.headers.location, targetFile)
        )
      }

      // save the file to disk
      const fileWriter = Fs
        .createWriteStream(targetFile)
        .on('finish', () => {
          resolve({})
        })

      response.pipe(fileWriter)
    }).on('error', error => {
      reject(error)
    })
  })
}

Notice: the downloadFile function above wraps the https.get method into a promise. You may not need the promise. Modern Node.js code typically uses async/await instead of callbacks. That’s the reason you may want to use promises as well.

Then use the downloadFile method to download content from the Internet. For example, you may want to download a new wallpaper like this:

const targetFile = 'wallpaper.png'  
const wallpaperUrl = 'https://unsplash.com/photos/W-fi1aeE-N8'

await download(wallpaperUrl, targetFile)

That’s it! Enjoy downloading files in Node.js!

Mentioned Resources

Marcus Pöhls

Marcus is a fullstack JS developer. He’s passionate about the hapi framework for Node.js and loves to build web apps and APIs. Creator of Futureflix and the “learn hapi” learning path.

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