The issue of receiving a 500 error when making a POST request in node.js

Question

The issue of receiving a 500 error when making a POST request in node.js

I have created my own unique REST API that utilizes an NLP API internally. I need to post data on their URL, but unfortunately I am encountering an error that is causing my API to return a 500 error to the frontend.

Below is a snippet of my server.js code:

app.post('/api/get',function(req,res) {
  //console.log(req);
  console.log("here in post ");
  if(!req.body){
    return res.send(400);
  }
  //console.log(req.body.msg);
  var searchQuery =  req.body.msg;
  var options = { 'api-key' : '3080a0e0-1111-11e5-a409-7159d0ac8188' };

  needle.post('http://api.cortical.io:80/rest/text/keywords?retina_name=en_associative',searchQuery,options,function(err, resp){
    if(err){
      console.log('something went wrong :' + err);
    }
    console.log('Got :'+resp );
});

Although I always reach the point where it logs "here in post", nothing happens after that. I'm also unsure if I am correctly specifying my api-key for the external API.

Thank you.

javascript node.js express needle.js

Answer 1

Answer №1

When working with express 4.x, make sure to configure your express server properly and install body-parser. Add the following lines to your express configuration:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: false}));
app.use(bodyParser.json());

If you are using express version 3.x, there is no need to install body-parser:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded());

Regarding your post route, I made some edits:

var config = require('./config');

app.post('/api/get', function (req, res) {
  var searchQuery = {
    q: req.body.msg
  };

  var NEEDLE_API_KEY = config.needle.API_KEY;
  var NEEDLE_URL = config.needle.URL;

  var options = {
    'api-key': NEEDLE_API_KEY
  };

  needle.post(NEEDLE_URL, searchQuery, options, function (err, needleResponse) {
    console.log(err || needleResponse.body);
    res.json(err || needleResponse.body);
  });

});

I have introduced a new file called config.js for storing all your api keys and third party service URLs.

module.exports = {
  needle: {
    API_KEY: process.env.NEEDLE_API_KEY,
    URL: 'http://api.cortical.io:80/rest/text/keywords?retina_name=en_associative'
  }
};

When running your server in the console, remember to set a value for your global environment variable named NEEDLE_API_KEY:

NEEDLE_API_KEY=666 node app.js

This way, you avoid saving any sensitive information in your source code and instead utilize global environment variables specific to the server machine.

Answer 2

When working with express 4.x, make sure to configure your express server properly and install body-parser. Add the following lines to your express configuration:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: false}));
app.use(bodyParser.json());

If you are using express version 3.x, there is no need to install body-parser:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded());

Regarding your post route, I made some edits:

var config = require('./config');

app.post('/api/get', function (req, res) {
  var searchQuery = {
    q: req.body.msg
  };

  var NEEDLE_API_KEY = config.needle.API_KEY;
  var NEEDLE_URL = config.needle.URL;

  var options = {
    'api-key': NEEDLE_API_KEY
  };

  needle.post(NEEDLE_URL, searchQuery, options, function (err, needleResponse) {
    console.log(err || needleResponse.body);
    res.json(err || needleResponse.body);
  });

});

I have introduced a new file called config.js for storing all your api keys and third party service URLs.

module.exports = {
  needle: {
    API_KEY: process.env.NEEDLE_API_KEY,
    URL: 'http://api.cortical.io:80/rest/text/keywords?retina_name=en_associative'
  }
};

When running your server in the console, remember to set a value for your global environment variable named NEEDLE_API_KEY:

NEEDLE_API_KEY=666 node app.js

This way, you avoid saving any sensitive information in your source code and instead utilize global environment variables specific to the server machine.

The issue of receiving a 500 error when making a POST request in node.js

Answer №1

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