Post Form Data With Axios
Nov 5, 2019
Implementing file uploads is a common backend task. But how do you test file upload endpoints? Don't worry, Axios makes it easy.
Setup
Suppose your Express server has a /upload endpoint that uses Formidable to
handle form uploads. Below is an example endpoint that just sends the
path of the uploaded file back.
app.post('/upload', function(req, res) {
const form = new formidable.IncomingForm();
// Parse `req` and upload all associated files
form.parse(req, function(err, fields, files) {
if (err) {
return res.status(400).json({ error: err.message });
}
const [firstFileName] = Object.keys(files);
res.json({ filename: firstFileName });
});
});In the Browser
Modern browsers have a built-in FormData class that you can use to
generate HTTP POST bodies formatted in the same way as if you submitted an HTML form. You can
then pass the FormData class instance transparently to
Axios' post() function.
// 48x48 PNG of a yin-yang symbol
const base64 = 'data:image/png;base64,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';
run().catch(err => console.log(err));
async function run() {
const blob = await fetch(base64).then(res => res.blob());
const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('yinyang.png', blob);
// Post the form, just make sure to set the 'Content-Type' header
const res = await axios.post('//localhost:5001/upload', formData, {
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'multipart/form-data'
}
});
// Prints "yinyang.png"
console.log(res.data);
}In Node.js
Node.js doesn't have a built-in FormData class, you need to use the
form-data npm module.
The form-data npm module also supports Node.js streams.
const FormData = require('form-data');
const axios = require('axios');
const fs = require('fs');
const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('yinyang.png', fs.createReadStream('./yinyang.png'));
const res = await axios.post('http://localhost:3000/upload', formData, {
// You need to use `getHeaders()` in Node.js because Axios doesn't
// automatically set the multipart form boundary in Node.
headers: formData.getHeaders()
});
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