How to use node-fetch-retry with @adobe/helix-fetch

[trieloff]

I'm working on a project with @alexkli and we would like to use @stefan-guggisberg's https://github.com/adobe/helix-fetch but also use this project's retry functionality.

This project has node-fetch hardcoded as a dependency, but as the dependency footprint is small, it should theoretically be possible to use a different fetch implementation.

I've tried using npm 8.3's override functionality to make replace node-fetch transparently with @adobe/helix-fetch, but ran into subtle incompatibilities:

• node-fetch exports fetch as a default export, in @adobe/helix-fetch it is { fetch }
• node-fetch can be required, @adobe/helix-fetch needs to be imported

I could imagine a pull request that would

1. turn node-fetch into a peer dependency
2. support an options.fetch parameter that allows passing a fetch implementation
3. uses node-fetch as the default for this parameter
4. require()s node-fetch dynamically (so that it is optional, but that might make packaging a bit more difficult)

[trieloff]

Thinking this a bit further, it would be cool to have the ability to run the entire library in the browser, using window.fetch

[stefan-guggisberg]

node-fetch can be required, @adobe/helix-fetch needs to be imported

@trieloff Why do you think that @adobe/helix-fetchneeds to be imported?. The following code works without any issues:

const { fetch, reset } = require('@adobe/helix-fetch');

fetch('http://example.com')
  .then(async (resp) => console.log(`${resp.status} - ${await resp.text()}`))
  .finally(reset);

BTW: as of v3 node-fetch needs to be imported.

[stefan-guggisberg]

If the node-fetch dependency is going to be optional it would IMO make sense to make abort-controller optional as well.

[tmathern]

Is browser support "just cool" or needed for your project?

[tmathern]

Opened issue: ASSETS-9903

[alexkli]

Is browser support "just cool" or needed for your project?

Not needed for helix-fetch in particular.

But it might be useful to have this project support browsers as well, if possible (might need to be renamed to fetch-retry then).

[alexkli]

Closing in favor of #86.