Node.js v20.14.0 documentation

URL strings and URL objects#

A URL string is a structured string containing multiple meaningful components. When parsed, a URL object is returned containing properties for each of these components.

The node:url module provides two APIs for working with URLs: a legacy API that is Node.js specific, and a newer API that implements the same WHATWG URL Standard used by web browsers.

A comparison between the WHATWG and legacy APIs is provided below. Above the URL 'https://user:pass@sub.example.com:8080/p/a/t/h?query=string#hash', properties of an object returned by the legacy url.parse() are shown. Below it are properties of a WHATWG URL object.

WHATWG URL's origin property includes protocol and host, but not username or password.

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                              href                                              │
├──────────┬──┬─────────────────────┬────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┬───────┤
│ protocol │  │        auth         │          host          │           path            │ hash  │
│          │  │                     ├─────────────────┬──────┼──────────┬────────────────┤       │
│          │  │                     │    hostname     │ port │ pathname │     search     │       │
│          │  │                     │                 │      │          ├─┬──────────────┤       │
│          │  │                     │                 │      │          │ │    query     │       │
"  https:   //    user   :   pass   @ sub.example.com : 8080   /p/a/t/h  ?  query=string   #hash "
│          │  │          │          │    hostname     │ port │          │                │       │
│          │  │          │          ├─────────────────┴──────┤          │                │       │
│ protocol │  │ username │ password │          host          │          │                │       │
├──────────┴──┼──────────┴──────────┼────────────────────────┤          │                │       │
│   origin    │                     │         origin         │ pathname │     search     │ hash  │
├─────────────┴─────────────────────┴────────────────────────┴──────────┴────────────────┴───────┤
│                                              href                                              │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
(All spaces in the "" line should be ignored. They are purely for formatting.) copy

Parsing the URL string using the WHATWG API:

const myURL =
  new URL('https://user:pass@sub.example.com:8080/p/a/t/h?query=string#hash'); copy

Parsing the URL string using the legacy API:

import url from 'node:url';
const myURL =
  url.parse('https://user:pass@sub.example.com:8080/p/a/t/h?query=string#hash');const url = require('node:url');
const myURL =
  url.parse('https://user:pass@sub.example.com:8080/p/a/t/h?query=string#hash');copy

Constructing a URL from component parts and getting the constructed string#

It is possible to construct a WHATWG URL from component parts using either the property setters or a template literal string:

const myURL = new URL('https://example.org');
myURL.pathname = '/a/b/c';
myURL.search = '?d=e';
myURL.hash = '#fgh'; copy

const pathname = '/a/b/c';
const search = '?d=e';
const hash = '#fgh';
const myURL = new URL(`https://example.org${pathname}${search}${hash}`); copy

To get the constructed URL string, use the href property accessor:

console.log(myURL.href); copy

The WHATWG URL API#

Class: URL#

Browser-compatible URL class, implemented by following the WHATWG URL Standard. Examples of parsed URLs may be found in the Standard itself. The URL class is also available on the global object.

In accordance with browser conventions, all properties of URL objects are implemented as getters and setters on the class prototype, rather than as data properties on the object itself. Thus, unlike legacy urlObjects, using the delete keyword on any properties of URL objects (e.g. delete myURL.protocol, delete myURL.pathname, etc) has no effect but will still return true.

new URL(input[, base])#

• input <string> The absolute or relative input URL to parse. If input is relative, then base is required. If input is absolute, the base is ignored. If input is not a string, it is converted to a string first.
• base <string> The base URL to resolve against if the input is not absolute. If base is not a string, it is converted to a string first.

Creates a new