Fix - ReferenceError fetch is not defined in NodeJs

Fix - ReferenceError fetch is not defined in NodeJs #

The "ReferenceError: fetch is not defined" error occurs when the fetch() method is used in an environment where it's not supported - most commonly NodeJs. To solve the error install and import the node-fetch package, which provides a fetch() compatible API on NodeJs runtime.

To solve the "ReferenceError: fetch is not defined" error install and import the node-fetch package.

If your project does not have a package.json file, create one first in your project's root directory:

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# 👇️ only run this if you don't have package.json file yet
npm init -y

Now install the node-fetch library.

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npm install node-fetch

Now you can import and use the module just like you would use the fetch() method in your browser.

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import fetch from 'node-fetch';

async function getUser() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/');

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`Error! status: ${response.status}`);
    }

    const result = await response.json();
    return result;
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(err);
  }
}

console.log(await getUser());

Note that, at the time of writing, to use ES6 module imports and exports in a NodeJs project, you have to set the type property to module in your package.json file:

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{
  "type": "module",
  // ... 👇️ rest
}

If I run my NodeJs script now, I get the result from calling the API back.

Fix - ReferenceError fetch is not defined in NodeJs (older versions) #

Only do this if you are using an older NodeJs version and want to use the require syntax instead of import / export.

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npm install node-fetch@2

We install version 2 of the node-fetch package.

Make sure you don't have the type property set to module in your package.json file.

Now you can import the fetch package using the older require function.

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// 👇️ Using older require syntax
const fetch = require('node-fetch');

async function getUser() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/');

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`Error! status: ${response.status}`);
    }

    const result = await response.json();
    return result;
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(err);
  }
}

We had to install version 2 of the node-fetch package to be able to use the require syntax in our NodeJs application.