Node http.request does nothing

Question

var http = require('http');

var options = {
    method: 'GET',
    host: 'www.google.com',
    port: 80,
    path: '/index.html'
};

http.request(
    options,
    function(err, resBody){
        console.log("hey");
        console.log(resBody);
        if (err) {
            console.log("YOYO");
            return;
        }
    }
);

For some reason this just times out and doesn't log anything to the console.

I'm aware that I could require('request') but I need to use http to be compatible with a plugin I'm using.

Also, background on my versions: Node is v0.8.2

Answer 1

You prepared a request object, but didn't fire it with .end(). (Also the callback doesn't work that way.)

See: http://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_event_request

Answer 2

Use the example here: http://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_http_request_options_callback

var options = {
  hostname: 'www.google.com',
  port: 80,
  path: '/upload',
  method: 'POST'
};

var req = http.request(options, function(res) {
  console.log('STATUS: ' + res.statusCode);
  console.log('HEADERS: ' + JSON.stringify(res.headers));
  res.setEncoding('utf8');
  res.on('data', function (chunk) {
    console.log('BODY: ' + chunk);
  });
});

req.on('error', function(e) {
  console.log('problem with request: ' + e.message);
});

// write data to request body
req.write('data\n');
req.write('data\n');
req.end();

the callback does not have an error parameter, you should use on("error", ...) and your request doesn't get sent till you call end()

Answer 3

Couple things here:

• Use hostname not host so you are compatible with url.parse() ( see here )
• The callback for request takes one argument which is an http.ClientResponse
• To catch an error use req.on('error', ...)
• When using http.request you need to end the request when you are done req.end() this is so you can write any body you need to (with req.write() ) before ending the request
  • Note: http.get() will do this for you under the hood, which may be why you forgot.

Working code:

var http = require('http');

var options = {
    method: 'GET',
    hostname: 'www.google.com',
    port: 80,
    path: '/index.html'
};

var req = http.request(
    options,
    function(res){
        console.log("hey");
        console.log(res);
    }
);

req.on('error', function(err) {
  console.log('problem', err);
});

req.end();