Code Snippet - How to Handle Redirect within Node.js

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Redirect Example
3. Installing the Request Module
4. Conclusion

Introduction

On the Node.js server side, if you want to redirect to another URL after successfully getting a response from an API, you can use the request module.

Redirect Example

exports.server_side_api = function(req, res) {
        var options = {
            url: 'http://localhost:100/api/firstAPI/',
            headers: {
                'Content-Type': 'application/json'
            }
        };

          request(options, function (error, response, body) {
                  if (!error && response.statusCode == 200) {

                    var info = JSON.parse(body);
                    // redirect to another url.
                    res.statusCode = 302;
                    res.setHeader("Location", info.Url);
                    res.end();
                  }
              });
}

Installing the Request Module

When using a Node.js module, you have to save it to the package.json file. When you deploy or use it in another environment, running the following command will install all the dependency modules from your package.json file.

npm install

You can run the following command to install the module and update package.json:

npm install request --save

npm-install document

Conclusion

Redirecting within Node.js is straightforward — set the status code to 302 and the Location header to the target URL. Make sure to install and save the request module to your package.json so dependencies are properly managed across environments.