How to Get JSON Data from API Using Node.js

This article guides you on how to retrieve JSON data from an API using the https module in Node.js, helping you better understand how to interact with web services.

In this article, we will use the Node.js https module to send a GET request to an API and handle the returned JSON data. The code snippet will illustrate how to fetch and process the data in a simple and detailed manner.

const https = require('https');

// API endpoint
const url = 'https://api.example.com/data';

// Send a GET request
https.get(url, (resp) => {
  let data = '';

  // Receive data in chunks
  resp.on('data', (chunk) => {
    data += chunk;
  });

  // End of data reception
  resp.on('end', () => {
    // Convert JSON string to object
    try {
      const jsonData = JSON.parse(data);
      console.log(jsonData);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('Error parsing JSON:', error);
    }
  });

}).on("error", (err) => {
  console.log("Error: " + err.message);
});

Detailed explanation

1. const https = require('https');: Import the https module to perform HTTP requests.
2. const url = 'https://api.example.com/data';: Set the url variable to the address of the API you want to access.
3. https.get(url, (resp) => { ... }): Send a GET request to the API, where resp represents the server's response.
4. resp.on('data', (chunk) => { ... }): Listen for the 'data' event to receive chunks of data.
5. data += chunk;: Concatenate each chunk into a complete string.
6. resp.on('end', () => { ... }): Listen for the 'end' event to process the data once it's fully received.
7. JSON.parse(data);: Convert the JSON string to an object for easier handling in Node.js.
8. .on("error", (err) => { ... }): Handle errors that may occur during the GET request.

System Requirements

• Node.js version: 10.x or later

How to install to run the Node.js code above

No additional libraries are required. Just install Node.js from the official Node.js website if you haven't already.

Tips

• Always check the API documentation before use and read it carefully.
• Use try...catch to handle errors when parsing JSON.
• Practice regularly to master working with APIs in Node.js.