ReferenceError: fetch is not defined

Question

I have this error when I compile my code in node.js, how can I fix it?

RefernceError: fetch is not defined

This is the function I am doing, it is responsible for recovering information from a specific movie database.

function getMovieTitles(substr){  
  pageNumber=1;
  let url = 'https://jsonmock.hackerrank.com/api/movies/search/?Title=' + substr + "&page=" + pageNumber;
  fetch(url).then((resp) => resp.json()).then(function(data) {
    let movies = data.data;
    let totPages = data.total_pages;
    let sortArray = [];
    for(let i=0; i<movies.length;i++){
        sortArray.push(data.data[i].Title);
     }
    for(let i=2; i<=totPages; i++){
           let newPage = i;
           let url1 = 'https://jsonmock.hackerrank.com/api/movies/search/?Title=' + substr + "&page=" + newPage;

          fetch(url1).then(function(response) {
              var contentType = response.headers.get("content-type");
              if(contentType && contentType.indexOf("application/json") !== -1) {
                return response.json().then(function(json) {
                  //console.log(json); //uncomment this console.log to see the JSON data.

                 for(let i=0; i<json.data.length;i++){
                    sortArray.push(json.data[i].Title);
                 }

                 if(i==totPages)console.log(sortArray.sort());

                });
              } else {
                console.log("Oops, we haven't got JSON!");
              }
            });

        }
  })
  .catch(function(error) {
    console.log(error);
  });   
}

Answer 1

If you're using a version of Node prior to 18, the fetch API is not implemented out-of-the-box and you'll need to use an external module for that, like node-fetch.

Install it in your Node application like this

npm install node-fetch

then put the line below at the top of the files where you are using the fetch API:

import fetch from "node-fetch";

---

If your application cannot be updated to use ESM (aka import syntax), and you need to use CommonJS (aka require), then stick with v2 of node-fetch. As per their README, v2 will continue to receive critical bug fixes.

npm install node-fetch@2

and then this will work,

const fetch = require("node-fetch");

Answer 2

This is a quick dirty fix, please try to eliminate this usage in production code.

If fetch has to be accessible with a global scope

import fetch from 'node-fetch'
globalThis.fetch = fetch

Answer 3

You can use cross-fetch from @lquixada

Platform agnostic: browsers, node or react native

Install

npm install --save cross-fetch

Usage

With promises:

import fetch from 'cross-fetch';
// Or just: import 'cross-fetch/polyfill';

fetch('//api.github.com/users/lquixada')
  .then(res => {
    if (res.status >= 400) {
      throw new Error("Bad response from server");
    }
    return res.json();
  })
  .then(user => {
    console.log(user);
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.error(err);
  });

With async/await:

import fetch from 'cross-fetch';
// Or just: import 'cross-fetch/polyfill';

(async () => {
  try {
    const res = await fetch('//api.github.com/users/lquixada');

    if (res.status >= 400) {
      throw new Error("Bad response from server");
    }

    const user = await res.json();

    console.log(user);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
  }
})();

Answer 4

If you want to avoid npm install and not running in browser, you can also use nodejs https module;

const https = require('https')
const url = "https://jsonmock.hackerrank.com/api/movies";
https.get(url, res => {
  let data = '';
  res.on('data', chunk => {
    data += chunk;
  });
  res.on('end', () => {
    data = JSON.parse(data);
    console.log(data);
  })
}).on('error', err => {
  console.log(err.message);
})

---

UPDATE APRIL 2023

Starting node version 18 and 19, Fetch API is available (Experimental, Not recommended for production use until stable) https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v18.x/docs/api/globals.html#fetch

Here are some examples (tested: v18.15.0/v19.9.0):

// Promise version:

const url = "https://jsonmock.hackerrank.com/api/movies";

fetch(url).then(res => {
    return res.json();
}).then(data => {
    console.log('DATA: ', data);
})

OR

// async/await version

const url = "https://jsonmock.hackerrank.com/api/movies";

const getData = async () => {
    const response = await fetch(url);

    if (response.ok) {
        const data = await response.json();

        console.log('DATA: ', data);
    }
};
getData();

Answer 5

fetch came to Node v17 under experimental flag --experimental-fetch

It will be available in Node v18 without the flag.

https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/41749#issue-1118239565

You no longer need any additional package to be installed

Answer 6

Node.js hasn't implemented the fetch() method, but you can use one of the external modules of this fantastic execution environment for JavaScript.

In one of the other answers, "node-fetch" is cited and that's a good choice.

In your project folder (the directory where you have the .js scripts) install that module with the command:

npm i node-fetch --save

Then use it as a constant in the script you want to execute with Node.js, something like this:

const fetch = require("node-fetch");

Answer 7

EDITED - New Solution

To use the latest version (3.0.0) you must do the import like this:

const fetch = (url) => import('node-fetch').then(({default: fetch}) => fetch(url));

---

---

Old Anwser:

This may not be the best solution, but if you install this version :

npm install node-fetch@1.7.3

you can now use the line below without error's.

const fetch = require("node-fetch");

Answer 8

You should add this import in your file:

import * as fetch from 'node-fetch';

And then, run this code to add the node-fetch:
$ yarn add node-fetch

If you're working with typescript, then install node-fetch types:
$ yarn add @types/node-fetch

Answer 9

You have to use the isomorphic-fetch module to your Node project because Node does not contain Fetch API yet. For fixing this problem run below command:

npm install --save isomorphic-fetch es6-promise

After installation use below code in your project:

import "isomorphic-fetch"

Answer 10

For those also using typescript on node-js and are getting a ReferenceError: fetch is not defined error

npm install these packages:

    "node-fetch": "^2.3.0"

Then include:

import Global = NodeJS.Global;
export interface GlobalWithCognitoFix extends Global {
    fetch: any
}
declare const global: GlobalWithCognitoFix;
global.fetch = require('node-fetch');

Answer 11

Best one is Axios library for fetching. use npm i --save axios for installng and use it like fetch, just write axios instead of fetch and then get response in then().

Answer 12

It seems fetch support URL scheme with "http" or "https" for CORS request.

Install node fetch library npm install node-fetch, read the file and parse to json.

const fs = require('fs')
const readJson = filename => {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    if (filename.toLowerCase().endsWith(".json")) {
      fs.readFile(filename, (err, data) => {
        if (err) {
          reject(err)
          return
        }
        resolve(JSON.parse(data))
      })
    }
    else {
      reject(new Error("Invalid filetype, <*.json> required."))
      return
    }
  })
}

// usage
const filename = "../data.json"
readJson(filename).then(data => console.log(data)).catch(err => console.log(err.message))

Answer 13

In HackerRank, some libraries are installed by default and some are not.

Because it is running Node.js, the fetch API is not installed by default.

The best thing for you to do is to check whether the libraries are or not installed.

on the top of the exercise, there is the following:

const https = require('https');

Please try to add this to the top as well:

const axios = require('axios');

and then run the code.

If there is a compilation error, then it's not available, otherwise you can use axios, which is a good alternative to fetch

To use it with then, you can:

function getMovieTitles(substr){
  axios.get(url)
    .then(function(response){
      console.log(response.data);
    })
}

or taking advantage of the async/await

async function getMovieTitles(substr){
  let response = await axios.get(url)
  console.log(response.data);
}

Answer 14

In node.js you can use : node-fetch package

npm i node-fetch

then :

import fetch from 'node-fetch';

here is a full sample in (nodejs) :

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const fetchData = async () => {
  const res = await fetch("https://restcountries.eu/rest/v2/alpha/col"); // fetch() returns a promise, so we need to wait for it

  const country = await res.json(); // res is now only an HTTP response, so we need to call res.json()

  console.log(country); // Columbia's data will be logged to the dev console
};

fetchData();

Answer 15

This is the related github issue This bug is related to the 2.0.0 version, you can solve it by simply upgrading to version 2.1.0. You can run npm i graphql-request@2.1.0-next.1

Answer 16

The following works for me in Node.js 12.x:

npm i node-fetch;

to initialize the Dropbox instance:

var Dropbox = require("dropbox").Dropbox;
var dbx = new Dropbox({
   accessToken: <your access token>,
   fetch: require("node-fetch")    
});

to e.g. upload a content (an asynchronous method used in this case):

await dbx.filesUpload({
  contents: <your content>,
  path: <file path>
});

Answer 17

This worked for me:

const nodeFetch = require('node-fetch') as typeof fetch;

Answer 18

I encountered this error when I deployed my docker instance to production. It was weird to see the application failed with the error in this question.

I realised the Dockerfile had FROM node:16.13.1 and my system node version was 20.3.1.

If you don't want to use 'node-fetch' as shown in many answers and use 'fetch' ensure that you're using node version 18 or above. The reference error is likely because your node version is less than 18.

Answer 19

For me these are looking more simple.

npm install node-fetch

import fetch from "node-fetch";

Answer 20

There are actually a lot of different libraries for making fetch available in the browser.

The main ones I'm aware of are:

• node-fetch
• cross-fetch
• whatwg-fetch
• isomorphic-fetch

I currently use node-fetch, and it has worked fine, but I don't really know which one is "the best". (though the openbase.com pages I linked to provide some metadata on usage [eg. Github stars, npm downloads], which can help)

Answer 21

npm i node-fetch 

Once installed, in your JavaScript file:

import fetch from "node-fetch";

Lastly make this change package.json file:

"type": "module"

Answer 22

I got this error in a Jest test when using native fetch in Node.js version 18(.15.0).

Upgrading to the latest version of Jest (in my case from 27.5.1 to 29.5.0) fixed the issue:

npm install jest@latest

Answer 23

Solution without installations

Method 1

import { PLATFORM_ID } from '@angular/core';
import { isPlatformBrowser, isPlatformServer } from '@angular/common';

constructor(@Inject(PLATFORM_ID) private platformId: Object) { 
    // constructor code
}

ngOnInit() {
    if (isPlatformBrowser(this.platformId)) {
        // Client only code. Any javascript base functions
    }
    if (isPlatformServer(this.platformId)) {
        // Server only code. Any javascript base functions
    }
}

Method 2

import {  PLATFORM_ID} from '@angular/core';
    import { isPlatformBrowser } from '@angular/common';
    
    @Component({
      selector: 'app-navigation',
      templateUrl: './navigation.component.html',
      styleUrls: ['./navigation.component.scss'],
      changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush,
    })
    export class NavigationComponent implements OnInit {
      private isBrowser: boolean = false;
    
      constructor(
        @Inject(PLATFORM_ID) private platformId: Object
      ) {
        this.isBrowser = isPlatformBrowser(platformId);
      }
    
      ngOnInit(): void {
          if (this.isBrowser) {
            fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1')
                .then((response) => response.json())
                .then((json) => console.log(json));
            }
        }
      }

DEMO - JSFIDDLE - Open console to view the fetch api service working

Answer 24

Just make your app.js file Extension as app.mjs and the problem will be solved!!!:)

Answer 25

Might sound silly but I simply called npm i node-fetch --save in the wrong project. Make sure you are in the correct directory.

Answer 26

If need install:

npm install --save global-fetch

then

var fetch = require("node-fetch");