cURL to Axios Converter

Axios sets Content-Type: application/json for plain objects and application/x-www-form-urlencoded for URLSearchParams, so the converter doesn't repeat those headers. A Content-Type you set yourself with -H is always kept.

Because curl doesn't follow redirects unless you pass -L, and Axios does: in Node.js it follows up to 21 of them by default. A command without -L that hits a 301 or 302 shows you the redirect in curl but the final page in Axios, a quiet difference that wastes time when you're debugging an API.

With Match curl redirects on, commands without -L get maxRedirects: 0 so the code behaves exactly like curl. Two things to know:

• Axios then rejects the 3xx response, because its default validateStatus only accepts 2xx. Read error.response.headers.location to see where it pointed, or pass validateStatus: (status) => status < 400.
• maxRedirects only applies in Node.js. In browsers, XMLHttpRequest always follows redirects and the option is ignored.

Axios earns its place when many requests share the same behavior:

• One client for everything. axios.create({ baseURL, headers, timeout }) gives you shared defaults, and interceptors can refresh tokens or log every call in one place.
• Errors you can't ignore. Any non-2xx status rejects, so a failed call can't slip through as a success.
• Progress events. onUploadProgress and onDownloadProgress drive progress bars, in the browser and (since Axios 1.x) in Node.js.

The costs: a dependency in every bundle, and params serializes arrays as ids[]=1&ids[]=2 by default. That is why the converter keeps repeated query keys such as ?id=1&id=2 in the URL instead of moving them to params. For zero-dependency code, use the cURL to fetch converter.

A converted command is a single call. In an app, the parts every call shares (base URL, auth header, timeout) belong in one instance:

import axios from "axios";

export const api = axios.create({
  baseURL: "https://api.example.com/v1",
  timeout: 30000,
});

api.interceptors.request.use((config) => {
  config.headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${getToken()}`;
  return config;
});

api.interceptors.response.use(
  (response) => response,
  (error) => {
    if (error.response?.status === 401) signOut();
    return Promise.reject(error);
  },
);

getToken() and signOut() stand for your own helpers. The converted call then shrinks to api.get("/orders", { params: { status: "shipped" } }), and the token never has to appear in source code, unlike the one in a copied command.

Copying requests from a browser? See how to copy as cURL in Chrome or Firefox DevTools, and turn on Drop browser headers to keep sec-ch-ua, sec-fetch-mode and priority out of the Axios config.

The converter runs entirely in your browser and never sends or stores your command. The generated code is another matter:

• Credentials. The Contains credentials badge lists tokens, cookies and passwords found in the request, and their lines are marked in amber. Read them from the environment instead: $API_TOKEN in the command becomes process.env.API_TOKEN.
• Basic auth. auth: { username, password } is only base64-encoded on the wire, so use it over HTTPS.
• Certificate checks. An httpsAgent with rejectUnauthorized: false accepts any certificate, including a forged one. Use it against a local test server, never in shipped code.