How to Read POST Request Body – Node.js Tutorial 9
When working with Node.js, it is common to receive POST requests and need to read the body of the request. In this tutorial, we will cover how to read the POST request body in Node.js.
Using the ‘body-parser’ Package
One common way to read the POST request body is by using the ‘body-parser’ package. This package allows you to parse the request body and access the data.
First, you will need to install the ‘body-parser’ package using npm:
npm install body-parser
Once the package is installed, you can use it in your Node.js application. Here is an example of how to use ‘body-parser’ to read the POST request body:
const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const app = express();
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.post('/submit', function (req, res) {
const data = req.body;
res.send('Data received: ' + JSON.stringify(data));
});
app.listen(3000, function () {
console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});
In this example, we create an Express app and use ‘body-parser’ to parse the request body. We then define a route for handling POST requests and access the data from the request body using ‘req.body’.
Using the ‘data’ Event
Another way to read the POST request body is by using the ‘data’ event of the request object. This event is emitted when data is available to read from the request body.
Here is an example of how to use the ‘data’ event to read the POST request body:
const http = require('http');
const server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
let body = '';
req.on('data', function (chunk) {
body += chunk;
});
req.on('end', function () {
const data = JSON.parse(body);
res.end('Data received: ' + JSON.stringify(data));
});
});
server.listen(3000, function () {
console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});
In this example, we create an HTTP server and listen for the ‘data’ event of the request object to read the request body. Once all data has been received, we parse the body and send a response with the received data.
Conclusion
Reading the POST request body in Node.js is a common task when building web applications. In this tutorial, we covered two ways to read the POST request body using the ‘body-parser’ package and the ‘data’ event of the request object.
Both methods provide a way to access the data sent in a POST request and can be used based on the requirements of your application. We hope this tutorial has been helpful in understanding how to read the POST request body in Node.js.
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Thanks for the video. Was racking my brain as to why it wasn't working even though my syntax was right. It was something as simple as checking the data-type in the postman request to "JSON".
Awesome !! Great work
thanks bro, I spent the past hour wondering why am undefined request body
dude your life saver…much love😘
love your openess , thanks . i was doing some extensive reading on getting json and this was nice
What app do you use to send post requests?
do we have to use the body-parser package?
hello!
i am trying to get node to read the body of my request, but it returns an empty object
server
app.use(express.json())
app.use(express.urlencoded({extended:true}))
app.post('/db', (req, res)=>{
console.log(req.body)
res.send(req.body)
})
client
var uri = '/db'
var obj = {hi:"hello"}
var js = true
function poster(data = obj){
fetch(uri,
{
method:'POST',
headers:{ 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
body:JSON.stringify(data)
}).then((res)=>{
console.log('post res', res)
if(res.ok){
if(!js){
res.text().then(t=>{
console.log('text', t)
document.body.append(t)
})
}else{
res.json().then(j=>{
console.log(j)
})}
}else{
console.log('res not okay', res)
}
})
}
do you know why is that happening?
Great!