Replace deprecated "request" library

[NicolasMassart]

Request is deprecated and will never be updated or fixed.
Migrating to a new supported library is required for long term.

Does anyone have thoughts on which one we should choose?
Would the core node.js http be enough?

Note that we only need to be able to do HEAD and GET requests. We need to be able to pass auth and any additional headers, get HTTP codes, body and response headers.

[ccsCoder]

Hi. This looks interesting.
I went through the attached issue. Have we settled on the library of choice ?
If yes, I am interested in taking this up.

[NicolasMassart]

For what I investigated, maybe node's default http api could be enough. We only do head or get requests with a few headers, and we don't process the response body.
In the YAGNI spirit I would be tempted to start with this, simple.
If we need to implement more complex things later, we'll see but there's no need to load the project with a complex dependency if we only use 1% of it.
Let me know if that's something you agree with to start your work, if not, feel free to propose something and explain your choice.

[nschonni]

The case for using a library is that it will also handle proxies, which are likely a common need for a library like this that is used a lot in CI setups

[ccsCoder]

Sorry guys. Official workload increased. unassigning myself

[NicolasMassart]

@nschonni do we currently handle proxies?
@ccsCoder 😢 take care, come back whenever you can.

[nschonni]

request handles it under the hood already https://github.com/request/request#controlling-proxy-behaviour-using-environment-variables

[NicolasMassart]

@nschonni What lib would you suggest?

[tcort]

The built-in module would be ideal, but if it doesn’t have the features people are looking for (e.g. good proxy support), then maybe try “needle”. I’ve had a positive experience with “make-fetch-happen” as well.

…

On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 4:39 PM Nicolas MASSART ***@***.***> wrote: What lib would you suggest? — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#29 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABU5EH7JM3LJVWTXWKRO4LSKYD7HANCNFSM4SK4XMRA> .

[NicolasMassart]

Migration from request to Needle also seems very easy.
I think we could go with Needle and anyway if we have issues we can still change.

[ThunderSon]

I am not the best person in node dev, but if no one is working on this, I can try building something up.
I never used needle (used axios and request), but I don't mind trying this out.

Let me know if I can be of help.

[NicolasMassart]

You are very welcome to help! I assign issue this to you and move it to "in progress".

[ThunderSon]

Should I be using promises, or traditional callbacks?
If you want we can have this staged.
First we go with callbacks to ensure smooth migration, then we implement promises if it's something that benefits the project.

[NicolasMassart]

I agree with callback first for compatibility and then promises. That seems the wise choice.

[NicolasMassart]

hi @ThunderSon did you already start working on this?
If not, I have something that works with Needle and that helps solving another issue.
I will tell you when I have a PR ready.