Axios Has a Free API — Here's How to Make HTTP Requests Like a Pro

Axios is the most popular HTTP client for JavaScript with 100M+ weekly downloads. It works in browsers and Node.js, with interceptors, automatic transforms, and cancellation support.

Installation

npm install axios

Basic Requests

import axios from "axios";

// GET
const { data } = await axios.get("https://api.github.com/users/axios");
console.log(data.name);

// POST
const response = await axios.post("https://httpbin.org/post", {
  name: "Axios",
  type: "http-client"
});

// With config
const result = await axios({
  method: "put",
  url: "https://api.example.com/users/1",
  data: { name: "Updated" },
  headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer token" },
  timeout: 5000
});

Create Instance

const api = axios.create({
  baseURL: "https://api.example.com/v2",
  timeout: 10000,
  headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer token" }
});

const users = await api.get("/users");
const user = await api.post("/users", { name: "New User" });

Interceptors

// Request interceptor — add auth token
api.interceptors.request.use((config) => {
  const token = getAuthToken();
  if (token) config.headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${token}`;
  config.metadata = { startTime: Date.now() };
  return config;
});

// Response interceptor — handle errors globally
api.interceptors.response.use(
  (response) => {
    const duration = Date.now() - response.config.metadata.startTime;
    console.log(`${response.config.url}: ${duration}ms`);
    return response;
  },
  async (error) => {
    if (error.response?.status === 401) {
      const newToken = await refreshToken();
      error.config.headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${newToken}`;
      return api(error.config); // Retry
    }
    return Promise.reject(error);
  }
);

Concurrent Requests

const [users, posts, comments] = await Promise.all([
  api.get("/users"),
  api.get("/posts"),
  api.get("/comments")
]);

File Upload with Progress

const formData = new FormData();
formData.append("file", fileInput.files[0]);

const response = await axios.post("/upload", formData, {
  onUploadProgress: (progressEvent) => {
    const percent = Math.round((progressEvent.loaded * 100) / progressEvent.total);
    console.log(`Upload: ${percent}%`);
  }
});

Cancellation

const controller = new AbortController();

const promise = axios.get("/slow-api", { signal: controller.signal });

setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 5000);

try {
  const { data } = await promise;
} catch (err) {
  if (axios.isCancel(err)) console.log("Request cancelled");
}

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