External API Calls with Fetch

In FaasPlus, you can make remote API calls directly from your functions using fetch, a Node.js feature that allows you to send HTTP requests to external servers. This is useful for integrating third-party services, retrieving data, or posting data to other applications or APIs.


Example 1: Making GET calls

In this example, we’ll use a public service, https://api.ipify.org/, to retrieve the IP address.


Run in postman 
const handleRequest = async (fetch) => { 
    const res = await fetch('https://api.ipify.org/?format=json'); 
    const jsonRes = await res.json(); 
    return jsonRes; 
};
>response
{
    "ip": "Host external IP address"
}

Example 2: Getting All European Countries’ Locations

In this example, we’ll retrieve data on all European countries using the restcountries.com API. The function will map two properties (country name and latitude/longitude) into a new array and return it.

Run in postman 
const handleRequest = async (fetch) => { 
    // Retrieve all European countries
    const res = await fetch('https://restcountries.com/v3.1/region/europe'); 
    const countries = await res.json(); 
    const locations = countries.map(c => ({
        CountryName: c.name.common,
        LatLng: c.latlng
    }));
    
    return locations; 
};
>response

[ 
    {
        "CountryName": "Norway",
        "LatLng": [62.0, 10.0]
    },
    ...
]

Example 3: POST an object

In this example, we’ll use a public service, https://restful-api.dev/, to post data.

Run in postman 
const handleRequest = async (req,fetch) => {
    const postData=req.body.payload;
    const res = await fetch('https://api.restful-api.dev/objects',{
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        },
        body: JSON.stringify(postData) 
    });
    
    const jsonRes = await res.json();
    return jsonRes;
};
body (as json) 
{
    "payload": {
        "name": "Apple MacBook Pro 16",
        "data": {
        "year": 2019,
        "price": 1849.99,
        "CPU model": "Intel Core i9",
        "Hard disk size": "1 TB"
        }
    }
}
>response
{
    "createdAt": "2024-11-22T07:00:56.350+00:00",
    "data": {
        "CPU model": "Intel Core i9",
        "Hard disk size": "1 TB",
        "price": 1849.99,
        "year": 2019
    },
    "id": "ff808181932badb6019352ac7d9e672d",
    "name": "Apple MacBook Pro 16"
}