|                                                                                                                                                |  | # stream-http [](https://travis-ci.org/jhiesey/stream-http)
[](https://saucelabs.com/u/stream-http)
This module is an implementation of Node's native `http` module for the browser.It tries to match Node's API and behavior as closely as possible, but some featuresaren't available, since browsers don't give nearly as much control over requests.
This is heavily inspired by, and intended to replace, [http-browserify](https://github.com/substack/http-browserify).
## What does it do?
In accordance with its name, `stream-http` tries to provide data to its caller beforethe request has completed whenever possible.
Backpressure, allowing the browser to only pull data from the server as fast as it isconsumed, is supported in:* Chrome >= 58 (using `fetch` and `WritableStream`)
The following browsers support true streaming, where only a small amount of the requesthas to be held in memory at once:* Chrome >= 43 (using the `fetch` API)* Firefox >= 9 (using `moz-chunked-arraybuffer` responseType with xhr)
The following browsers support pseudo-streaming, where the data is available before therequest finishes, but the entire response must be held in memory:* Chrome* Safari >= 5, and maybe older* IE >= 10* Most other Webkit-based browsers, including the default Android browser
All browsers newer than IE8 support binary responses. All of the above browsers thatsupport true streaming or pseudo-streaming support that for binary data as wellexcept for IE10. Old (presto-based) Opera also does not support binary streaming either.
### IE8 note:
As of version 2.0.0, IE8 support requires the user to supply polyfills for`Object.keys`, `Array.prototype.forEach`, and `Array.prototype.indexOf`. Exampleimplementations are provided in [ie8-polyfill.js](ie8-polyfill.js); alternately,you may want to consider using [es5-shim](https://github.com/es-shims/es5-shim).All browsers with full ES5 support shouldn't require any polyfills.
## How do you use it?
The intent is to have the same API as the client part of the[Node HTTP module](https://nodejs.org/api/http.html). The interfaces are the same whereverpractical, although limitations in browsers make an exact clone of the Node API impossible.
This module implements `http.request`, `http.get`, and most of `http.ClientRequest`and `http.IncomingMessage` in addition to `http.METHODS` and `http.STATUS_CODES`. See theNode docs for how these work.
### Extra features compared to Node
* The `message.url` property provides access to the final URL after all redirects. Thisis useful since the browser follows all redirects silently, unlike Node. It is availablein Chrome 37 and newer, Firefox 32 and newer, and Safari 9 and newer.
* The `options.withCredentials` boolean flag, used to indicate if the browser should sendcookies or authentication information with a CORS request. Default false.
This module has to make some tradeoffs to support binary data and/or streaming. Generally,the module can make a fairly good decision about which underlying browser features to use,but sometimes it helps to get a little input from the developer.
* The `options.mode` field passed into `http.request` or `http.get` can take on one of thefollowing values:  * 'default' (or any falsy value, including `undefined`): Try to provide partial data beforethe request completes, but not at the cost of correctness for binary data or correctness ofthe 'content-type' response header. This mode will also avoid slower code paths wheneverpossible, which is particularly useful when making large requests in a browser like Safarithat has a weaker JavaScript engine.  * 'allow-wrong-content-type': Provides partial data in more cases than 'default', butat the expense of causing the 'content-type' response header to be incorrectly reported(as 'text/plain; charset=x-user-defined') in some browsers, notably Safari and Chrome 42and older. Preserves binary data whenever possible. In some cases the implementation mayalso be a bit slow. This was the default in versions of this module before 1.5.  * 'prefer-stream': Provide data before the request completes even if binary data (anythingthat isn't a single-byte ASCII or UTF8 character) will be corrupted. Of course, this optionis only safe for text data. May also cause the 'content-type' response header to beincorrectly reported (as 'text/plain; charset=x-user-defined').  * 'disable-fetch': Force the use of plain XHR regardless of the browser declaring a fetchcapability. Preserves the correctness of binary data and the 'content-type' response header.  * 'prefer-fast': Deprecated; now a synonym for 'default', which has the same performancecharacteristics as this mode did in versions before 1.5.
* `options.requestTimeout` allows setting a timeout in millisecionds for XHR and fetch (ifsupported by the browser). This is a limit on how long the entire process takes frombeginning to end. Note that this is not the same as the node `setTimeout` functions,which apply to pauses in data transfer over the underlying socket, or the node `timeout`option, which applies to opening the connection.
### Features missing compared to Node
* `http.Agent` is only a stub* The 'socket', 'connect', 'upgrade', and 'continue' events on `http.ClientRequest`.* Any operations, including `request.setTimeout`, that operate directly on the underlyingsocket.* Any options that are disallowed for security reasons. This includes setting or gettingcertain headers.* `message.httpVersion`* `message.rawHeaders` is modified by the browser, and may not quite match what is sent bythe server.* `message.trailers` and `message.rawTrailers` will remain empty.* Redirects are followed silently by the browser, so it isn't possible to access the 301/302redirect pages.* The `timeout` event/option and `setTimeout` functions, which operate on the underlyingsocket, are not available. However, see `options.requestTimeout` above.
## Example
``` jshttp.get('/bundle.js', function (res) {	var div = document.getElementById('result');	div.innerHTML += 'GET /beep<br>';
	res.on('data', function (buf) {		div.innerHTML += buf;	});
	res.on('end', function () {		div.innerHTML += '<br>__END__';	});})```
## Running tests
There are two sets of tests: the tests that run in Node (found in `test/node`) and the teststhat run in the browser (found in `test/browser`). Normally the browser tests run on[Sauce Labs](http://saucelabs.com/).
Running `npm test` will run both sets of tests, but in order for the Sauce Labs tests to runyou will need to sign up for an account (free for open source projects) and put thecredentials in a [`.zuulrc` file](https://github.com/defunctzombie/zuul/wiki/zuulrc).
To run just the Node tests, run `npm run test-node`.
To run the browser tests locally, run `npm run test-browser-local` and point your browser to`http://localhost:8080/__zuul`
## License
MIT. Copyright (C) John Hiesey and other contributors.
 |