: Creates a destination on your local disk where the file data will be written.
: Connects the incoming data stream directly to your file, preventing memory overflow. Code Example: javascript download files nodejs
const https = require('https'); const fs = require('fs'); const url = "https://example.com"; const file = fs.createWriteStream("downloaded_image.jpg"); https.get(url, (response) => { if (response.statusCode === 200) { response.pipe(file); file.on('finish', () => { file.close(); console.log("Download complete!"); }); } else { console.error(`Failed to download: ${response.statusCode}`); } }).on('error', (err) => { fs.unlink("downloaded_image.jpg", () => {}); // Delete partial file on error console.error(err.message); }); Use code with caution. 2. Using Axios (Modern & Promise-based) : Creates a destination on your local disk
Axios is a popular HTTP client that simplifies requests with a cleaner, promise-based API. To handle files, you must set the responseType to 'stream' . npm install axios Use code with caution. Implementation: javascript npm install axios Use code with caution
The most lightweight way to download a file is using Node.js’s native https module. This is ideal when you want to avoid adding dependencies to your project. https.get : Initiates the request to the file's URL.
const axios = require('axios'); const fs = require('fs'); async function downloadWithAxios(url, path) { const writer = fs.createWriteStream(path); const response = await axios({ url, method: 'GET', responseType: 'stream' // Critical for file downloads }); response.data.pipe(writer); return new Promise((resolve, reject) => { writer.on('finish', resolve); writer.on('error', reject); }); } Use code with caution. 3. Handling Large Files with Streams
Downloading files in Node.js can range from a simple three-line script to a complex pipeline handling gigabytes of data. This guide covers the primary methods to , comparing built-in modules with powerful third-party libraries like Axios. 1. Using the Built-in https Module