GET Requests with Axios

Jul 20, 2020

The easiest way to make a GET request with Axios is the axios.get() function. The first parameter to axios.get() is the URL. For example, below is how you make a GET request to the URL httpbin.org/get?answer=42:

const axios = require('axios');

const res = await axios.get('https://httpbin.org/get?answer=42');

res.data.args; // { answer: 42 }

The options Parameter

The 2nd parameter to axios.get() is the Axios options. For example, you don't have to serialize the query string ?answer=42 yourself. Axios will serialize options.params and add it to the query string for you. The below request is equivalent:

const axios = require('axios');

// Equivalent to `axios.get('https://httpbin.org/get?answer=42')`
const res = await axios.get('https://httpbin.org/get', { params: { answer: 42 } });

res.data.args; // { answer: 42 }

The options parameter is also how you set any request headers. For example, below is how you set the Test-Header header on a GET request.

const axios = require('axios');

// httpbin.org gives you the headers in the response
// body `res.data`.
// See: https://httpbin.org/#/HTTP_Methods/get_get
const res = await axios.get('https://httpbin.org/get', {
  headers: {
    'Test-Header': 'test-value'
  }
});

res.data.headers['Test-Header']; // "test-value"

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