Question

154

node.js check if a remote URL exists

rated 0 times [ 158] [ 4] / answers: 1 / hits: 64749 / 10 Years ago, wed, september 24, 2014, 12:00:00

How do I check to see if a URL exists without pulling it down? I use the following code, but it downloads the whole file. I just need to check that it exists.

app.get('/api/v1/urlCheck/', function (req,res) {

    var url=req.query['url'];

    var request = require('request');

    request.get(url, {timeout: 30000, json:false}, function (error, result) {

        res.send(result.body);



    });



});

Appreciate any help!

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declanm

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2 Years ago

answered 10 Years ago jackie · Accepted Answer

2021 update

Use url-exist:

import urlExist from 'url-exist';



const exists = await urlExist('https://google.com');



// Handle result

console.log(exists);

2020 update

request has now been deprecated which has brought down url-exists with it. Use url-exist instead.

const urlExist = require("url-exist");



(async () => {

    const exists = await urlExist("https://google.com");

    // Handle result

    console.log(exists)

})();

If you (for some reason) need to use it synchronously, you can use url-exist-sync.

2019 update

Since 2017, request and callback-style functions (from url-exists) have fallen out of use.

However, there is a fix. Swap url-exists for url-exist.

So instead of using:

const urlExists = require("url-exists")



urlExists("https://google.com", (_, exists) => {

    // Handle result

    console.log(exists)

})

Use this:

const urlExist = require("url-exist");

 

(async () => {

    const exists = await urlExist("https://google.com");

    // Handle result

    console.log(exists)

})();

Original answer (2017)

If you have access to the request package, you can try this:

const request = require("request")

const urlExists = url => new Promise((resolve, reject) => request.head(url).on("response", res => resolve(res.statusCode.toString()[0] === "2")))

urlExists("https://google.com").then(exists => console.log(exists)) // true

Most of this logic is already provided by url-exists.