I am working on a simple Node app that involves an ExpressJS server serving up two routes. The routes both need to receive a POSTed JSON body from the request and use that body to perform some functionality. The problem is that I cannot seem to get my setup to work when the request comes from a React UI that is embedded in my company’s website. Initially I was running into CORS errors so I went through configuring and got those cleared. I am now left with the problem that the fetch call coming from my outside React UI is somehow not conveying req.body to my app. This is not a problem when I make the POST request from an HTTP client GUI (i.e. Insomnia or Postman) - req.body is received and an appropriate response is returned. This is only happening in the browser (both Chrome and Firefox) through my unrelated React App (not part of this Digital Ocean Apps deployment).
The fetch call from the React UI is set up like this…
console.log('aiReqObj...', aiReqObj);
let aiResponse = await fetch('https://whateverappname.ondigitalocean.app/preview', {
method: "POST",
body: JSON.stringify(aiReqObj)
})
aiReqObj logs out just fine. On my Express server, the route is handled something like this…
app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.post('/preview', async (req, res) => {
console.log(req.body);
}
When the request comes from the above fetch call in my react UI, this console.log(req.body) returns an empty object. What may I have overlooked in setting things up? Is this some sort of issue with a CORS header? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.
You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!
Accepted Answer
I found the solution: needed to add a content-type header to the fetch from the react app like this…
let aiResponse = await fetch('https://whateverappname.ondigitalocean.app/preview', {
method: "POST",
body: JSON.stringify(aiReqObj),
headers: {
'content-type': 'application/json;charset=utf-8'
}
})
Become a contributor for community
Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.
DigitalOcean Documentation
Full documentation for every DigitalOcean product.
Resources for startups and SMBs
The Wave has everything you need to know about building a business, from raising funding to marketing your product.
The developer cloud
Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.
Get started for free
Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*
*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.