How To Read POST Request Parameters In Express

In the last express tutorial, you learnt how to get query string parameters in express web app. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to read POST request parameters in express web app.

Getting Started With Express

Let’s get started by creating an express web app. Create a project directory and initialize the node project.

    mkdir node-app
    cd node-app
    npm init

Once the project has been initialized, install express framework into the project.

    // install express framework
    npm install --save express

Create a file called app.js and add the following code:

    const express = require('express')
    const app = express()
    const port = 3000
    
    app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Welcome to How To Read POST Request Parameters In Express!'))
    
    app.listen(port, () => console.log(`App listening on port ${port}!`))

Save the above changes and run the express web app.

    // run the app
    node app.js

You will have the application running at http://localhost:3000.

Read POST Request Parameters In Express

Create a route called postParameters into which we’ll post some parameters.

    app.post('/postParameter', (req, res) => {
        // code will be here
    })

You’ll be making use of a middleware called bodyParser to make the form data available in the req.body.

    // install body parser
    npm install body-parser --save

Once you have the body-parser installed, require it in the app.js file.

    // require body-parser
    const body_parser = require('body-parser')

Use the body-parser as middleware in the postParameter route to parse the req object to populate the req.body.

    /*
    ** Route to DEMO the How to Read Post Request Parameters In Express
    ** This route returns the parameters posted to the route
    */
    app.post('/postParameter', body_parser.urlencoded({ extended: false }), (req, res) => {
        res.json({
            params : req.body
        })
    })

When a POST request comes to the postParameter route, body-parser parses the POST parameters and returns the parameters as response.

Save the above changes and restart the server. Try making a POST request to http://localhost:3000/postParameter.

[caption id=“attachment_1324” align=“aligncenter” width=“1131”] How To Read POST Request Parameters In Express[/caption]

Wrapping It Up

In this tutorial, you saw how to read POST request parameters in express. Have you used any other middleware for reading POST parameters in express ? Do let us know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.