Postman download file from url
Setting Up Our Project npx create-react-app reactfiledownloader cd reactfiledownloader Creating Helper Fileįor this project, we’ll keep our http requests within a separate helper file, in order for us to use as needed. We’ll be using this repository for serving the NodeJS API Files.
Setting Up Our Backendįor our backend, we’ll be using NodeJS, but you could use PHP or another backend service to provide the files. Please don’t hesitate to mention it in the comments, I’m welcoming better solutions. Although, “hacky” implementations was how we got AJAX in the first place, so who knows this might become a better standard or a better implementation might come along. It’s good to mention this early on that this method, currently, is a “hacky” implementation of achieving the goal. This method is the one we’ll be looking at today, where the file data is sent to us via the API, we interpret that data, and download it directly on the client side, without opening up a new tab. It takes up space and will require clean up. The biggest issue with this is that now, on the server side, we have a physical file to manage. The issue with this is that it leaves the location of the document exposed for further download after the initial request, which might not be that much of a problem. Generate Server Side MethodĪnother method would be to generate the document on the server side and provide a URL to download the file once it’s ready. There is also the issue that if you’re using JWT then the request in the new window will fail because it doesn’t contain the Authorization token in the header when performing a GET request.
One method might be to open that request in a tab and then force the download, but the experience of that takes the user away from the central application. There are a few ways you can do this to get the user to automatically start downloading the file.
Postman download file from url pdf#
Let’s say you want to make a request to an API endpoint for a PDF or other document. Download API Files With React & Fetch What Is This?