Using request vs fetch

[simhnna]

Assuming the code will always (TM) be executed with node, never in browser or another js runtime. Should I use fetch or request?
I'm tending towards request, but fetch being bundled and the compatibility is tempting...

fetch

pro

• available globally
• all libs can use the same implementation
• bundled in node
• browser fetch compatibility

contra

• error handling (DomException, errors being wrapped in TypeError, ...)

request

pro

• better error handling (the errors are clearer)
• more control over timeouts

contra

• need a dependency on undici (additional dependency, don't know if it will become incompatible to bundled node)
• If for some reason I decide to use code somewhere else I'd need to refactor request -> fetch
• doesn't handle compression

[Uzlopak]

fetch handles compression. for request you have to implement it yourself.

Also there are still some improvements for fetch in the pipeline. like caching. Stuff you would need to implement yourself in request.

[simhnna]

oh. I wasn't aware of compression. I guess that's close to being a deal breaker for me..

[Yogu]

Is the error handling something that can be improved in the fetch implementation? I think specs usually only dictate the name of an error, not the message.

[simhnna]

after playing around a little more it looks like fetch is always wraps an error (usually an undici error) in a TypeError: fetch failed

There's one exception. If a request is aborted using an AbortSignal both fetch and request throw DOMException [TimeoutError]: The operation was aborted due to timeout

[metcoder95]

The overall recommendation we give is to use undici.request when possible as it is not only the most performant but also fine grained control over your request and gives up-to-date advantage of undici.

They way undici is bundled is meant to empower fetch and do not collide with userland undici.

If you are really seeking for interoperability and dependency-less option, fetch is the way to go; but for the rest I always recommend undici.request or undici overall

[ronag]

We should probably add a decompression interceptor to handle that case as well.