A WebDAV client, written in Typescript, for NodeJS and the browser

WebDAV is a well-known, stable and highly flexible protocol for interacting with remote filesystems via an API. Being that it is so widespread, many file hosting services such as Nextcloud/ownCloud, Box and Yandex use it as a fallback to their primary interfaces.

This library provides a WebDAV client interface that makes interacting with WebDAV enabled services easy. The API returns promises and resolve with the results. It parses and prepares directory-contents requests for easy consumption, as well as providing methods for fetching things like file stats and quotas.

This library's motivation is not to follow an RFC or to strictly adhere to standard WebDAV interfaces, but to provide an easy-to-consume client API for working with most WebDAV services from Node or the browser.

Version 5 is under active development. Version 4 is in support mode, and will receive security and stability related bugfixes. Earlier versions are deprecated and will not receive updates.

Version 5 upgrades the library to use ESM (ECMAScript Modules), and so your environment must fit one of the following formats to be able to use this library:

• NodeJS project with "type": "module" in package.json (ESM mode)
• Web project bundled with a tool like Webpack that can handle ESM
• React-native projects (via direct import or using automatic react-native entry)

If you're not ready to upgrade, you may consider using version 4 of this library.

This library uses @buttercup/fetch to make requests in a cross-platform manner. It uses the browser's native fetch if present, or a polyfill if not. In Node and other environments it uses node-fetch.

Versions before v5 used Axios for requests.

Support table:

Browser environments are supported from version 3 onwards of this library.

As mentioned above, v5 introduced ESM and this may require additional configuration when bundling for the browser.

Although you may choose to transpile this library's default entry point (NodeJS) yourself, it is not advised - use the dedicated web version instead.

In version 4 you had to use a different entry-point for the web version, and while this is still possible to use in version 5, you no longer need to:

import { createClient } from "webdav/web";

// or

import { createClient } from "webdav";

// both work fine in supported bundlers

Versions 3/4 supported a UMD-style module in the browser, but this is no longer supported in version 5. Version 5 provides only an ESM-enabled bundle that can be imported into other ESM-supporting projects.

NB: Streams are not available within the browser, so createReadStream and createWriteStream are just stubbed. Calling them will throw an exception.

React-Native is better supported as of version 5.6.0, using a specific build for the platform. The import should be automatic, but can be forced by importing from /react-native directly:

import { createClient } from "webdav/react-native";

NB: Note that for some reason, the Metro build system doesn't properly resolve using these entries, and you may need to customise your babel config for React Native to correctly import this library:

module.exports = {
    presets: ["module:metro-react-native-babel-preset"],
    plugins: [
        [
            "module-resolver",
            {
                alias: {
                    // Point the webdav client entry to the react native build:
                    webdav: "webdav/dist/react-native"
                },
                extensions: [".tsx", ".ts", ".js", ".jsx", ".json"]
            }
        ]
    ]
};

When using this override, you can simply import from webdav.

Typescript types are exported with this library for the Node build. All of the types can also be directly imported from the module:

import { AuthType, createClient } from "webdav";

const client = createClient("https://some-server.org", {
    authType: AuthType.Digest,
    username: "user",
    password: "pass"
});

Simple install as a dependency using npm:

npm install webdav --save

Usage entails creating a client adapter instance by calling the factory function createClient:

const { createClient } = require("webdav");

const client = createClient(
    "https://webdav.example.com/marie123",
    {
        username: "marie",
        password: "myS3curePa$$w0rd"
    }
);

// Get directory contents
const directoryItems = await client.getDirectoryContents("/");
// Outputs a structure like:
// [{
//     filename: "/my-file.txt",
//     basename: "my-file.txt",
//     lastmod: "Mon, 10 Oct 2018 23:24:11 GMT",
//     size: 371,
//     type: "file"
// }]

The WebDAV client automatically detects which authentication to use, between AuthType.None and AuthType.Password, if no authType configuration parameter is provided. For AuthType.Token or AuthType.Digest, you must specify it explicitly.

Setting the authType will automatically manage the Authorization header when connecting.

You can set the authType to AuthType.Auto if you're unsure whether the remote server requires digest or password based authentication.

You can use the client without authentication if the server doesn't require it - simply avoid passing any values to username, password in the config.

To use basic authentication, simply pass a username and password in the config.

This library also allows for overriding the built in HTTP and HTTPS agents by setting the properties httpAgent & httpsAgent accordingly. These should be instances of node's http.Agent and https.Agent respectively.

To use a token to authenticate, pass the token data to the token field and specify the authType:

createClient(
    "https://address.com",
    {
        authType: AuthType.Token,
        token: {
            access_token: "2YotnFZFEjr1zCsicMWpAA",
            token_type: "example",
            expires_in: 3600,
            refresh_token: "tGzv3JOkF0XG5Qx2TlKWIA",
            example_parameter: "example_value"
        }
    }
);

You can also provide the HA1 (see here for details) yourself. This enables you to generate the HA1 at the time the user is logged in and persist it, so you do not have persist the password itself.

createClient("https://address.com", {
    authType: AuthType.Digest,
    username: "someUser",
    password: "",
    ha1: "your previously generated ha1 here"
});

If a server requires digest-based authentication, you can enable this functionality by the authType configuration parameter, as well as providing a username and password:

createClient(
    "https://address.com",
    {
        authType: AuthType.Digest,
        username: "someUser",
        password: "myS3curePa$$w0rd"
    }
);

The createClient method takes a WebDAV service URL, and a configuration options parameter.

The available configuration options are as follows:

The WebDAVClient interface type contains all the methods and signatures for the WebDAV client instance.

Copy a file from one location to another.

await client.copyFile(
    "/images/test.jpg",
    "/public/img/test.jpg"
);

(filename: string, destination: string, options?: WebDAVMethodOptions) => Promise<void>

Create a new directory.

await client.createDirectory("/data/system/storage");

(path: string, options?: CreateDirectoryOptions) => Promise<void>

options extends method options.

Recursive directory creation is expensive request-wise. Multiple stat requests are made (totalling the depth of the path that exists, +1) to detect what parts of the path already exist, until finding a segment that doesn't exist - where it then only requests the creation method.

For example, a recursive call to create a path /a/b/c/d/e, where /a/b already exists, will result in 3 stat requests (for /a, /a/b and /a/b/c) and 3 createDirectory requests (for /a/b/c, /a/b/c/d and /a/b/c/d/e).

Synchronously create a readable stream for a remote file.

Note that although a stream is returned instantly, the connection and fetching of the file is still performed asynchronously in the background. There will be some delay before the stream begins receiving data.

client
    .createReadStream("/video.mp4")
    .pipe(fs.createWriteStream("~/video.mp4"));

If you want to stream only part of the file, you can specify the range in the options argument:

client
    .createReadStream(
        "/video.mp4", 
        { range: { start: 0, end: 1024 } }
    ).pipe(fs.createWriteStream("~/video.mp4"));

(filename: string, options?: CreateReadStreamOptions) => Stream.Readable

options extends method options.

Create a write stream targeted at a remote file.

Note that although a stream is returned instantly, the connection and writing to the remote file is still performed asynchronously in the background. There will be some delay before the stream begins piping data.

fs
    .createReadStream("~/Music/song.mp3")
    .pipe(client.createWriteStream("/music/song.mp3"));

(filename: string, options?: CreateWriteStreamOptions, callback?: CreateWriteStreamCallback) => Stream.Writable

options extends method options.

Custom requests can be made to the attached host by calling customRequest. Custom requests provide the boilerplate authentication and other request options used internally within the client.

const resp: Response = await this.client.customRequest("/alrighty.jpg", {
    method: "PROPFIND",
    headers: {
        Accept: "text/plain",
        Depth: "0"
    }
});
const result: DAVResult = await parseXML(await resp.text());
const stat: FileStat = parseStat(result, "/alrighty.jpg", false);

(path: string, requestOptions: RequestOptionsCustom) => Promise<Response>

The request options parameter does not extend method options as things like headers can already be specified.

Delete a remote file.

await client.deleteFile("/tmp.dat");

(filename: string, options?: WebDAVMethodOptions) => Promise<void>

Check if a file or directory exists.

if (await client.exists("/some/path") === false) {
    await client.createDirectory("/some/path");
}

(path: string, options?: WebDAVMethodOptions) => Promise<boolean>

Get the contents of a remote directory. Returns an array of item stats.

// Get current directory contents:
const contents = await client.getDirectoryContents("/");
// Get all contents:
const contents = await client.getDirectoryContents("/", { deep: true });

Files can be globbed using the glob option (processed using minimatch). When using a glob pattern it is recommended to fetch deep contents:

const images = await client.getDirectoryContents("/", { deep: true, glob: "/**/*.{png,jpg,gif}" });

(path: string, options?: GetDirectoryContentsOptions) => Promise<Array<FileStat> | ResponseDataDetailed<Array<FileStat>>>

options extends method options.

Fetch the contents of a remote file. Binary contents are returned by default (Buffer):

const buff: Buffer = await client.getFileContents("/package.zip");

It is recommended to use streams if the files being transferred are large.

Text files can also be fetched:

const str: string = await client.getFileContents("/config.json", { format: "text" });

(filename: string, options?: GetFileContentsOptions) => Promise<BufferLike | string | ResponseDataDetailed<BufferLike | string>>

options extends method options.

Generate a public link where a file can be downloaded. This method is synchronous. Exposes authentication details in the URL.

Not all servers may support this feature. Only Basic authentication and unauthenticated connections support this method.

const downloadLink: string = client.getFileDownloadLink("/image.png");

(filename: string) => string

Generate a URL for a file upload. This method is synchronous. Exposes authentication details in the URL.

const uploadLink: string = client.getFileUploadLink("/image.png");

(filename: string) => string

Get the quota information for the current account:

const quota: DiskQuota = await client.getQuota();
// {
//     "used": 1938743,
//     "available": "unlimited"
// }

(options?: GetQuotaOptions) => Promise<DiskQuota | null | ResponseDataDetailed<DiskQuota | null>>

options extends method options.

Lock a remote resource (using a write lock).

const lock = await client.lock("/file.doc");

// Later
await client.unlock("/file.doc", lock.token);

(path: string, options?: LockOptions) => Promise<LockResponse>

options extends method options.

Move a file to another location.

await client.moveFile("/file1.png", "/file2.png");

(filename: string, destinationFilename: string, options?: WebDAVMethodOptions) => Promise<void>

Write data to a remote file. Returns false when file was not written (eg. { overwrite: false } and file exists), and true otherwise.

// Write a buffer:
await client.putFileContents("/my/file.jpg", imageBuffer, { overwrite: false });
// Write a text file:
await client.putFileContents("/my/file.txt", str);

(filename: string, data: string | BufferLike | Stream.Readable, options?: PutFileContentsOptions) => Promise<boolean>

options extends method options.

Update a remote file with a partial update. This method is useful for updating a file without having to download and re-upload the entire file.

Note that this method is not standardised and may not be supported by all servers. To use this feature, one of the following must be met:

• WebDav is served by Apache with the mod_dav module
• The server supports Sabredav PartialUpdate Extension (https://sabre.io/dav/http-patch/)

(filePath: string, start: number, end: number, data: string | BufferLike | Stream.Readable, options?: WebDAVMethodOptions)=> Promise<void>

Perform a WebDAV search as per rfc5323.

const searchRequest = `
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<d:searchrequest xmlns:d="DAV:" xmlns:f="http://example.com/foo">
    <f:natural-language-query>
    Find files changed last week
    </f:natural-language-query>
</d:searchrequest>
`
const result: SearchResult = await client.search("/some-collection", { data: searchRequest });

(path: string, options?: SearchOptions) => Promise<SearchResult | ResponseDataDetailed<SearchResult>>

options extends method options.

Get a file or directory stat object. Returns an item stat.

const stat: FileStat = await client.stat("/some/file.tar.gz");

(path: string, options?: StatOptions) => Promise<FileStat | ResponseDataDetailed<FileStat>>

options extends method options.

Unlock a locked resource using a token.

await client.unlock("/file.doc", lock.token);

(path: string, token:string, options?: WebDAVMethodOptions) => Promise<void>

options extends method options.

For requests like stat, which use the PROPFIND method under the hood, it is possible to provide a custom request body to the method so that the server may respond with additional/different data. Overriding of the body can be performed by setting the data property in the method options.

Most WebDAV methods extend WebDAVMethodOptions, which allow setting things like custom headers.

Item stats are objects with properties that descibe a file or directory. They resemble the following:

{
    "filename": "/test",
    "basename": "test",
    "lastmod": "Tue, 05 Apr 2016 14:39:18 GMT",
    "size": 0,
    "type": "directory",
    "etag": null
}

or:

{
    "filename": "/image.jpg",
    "basename": "image.jpg",
    "lastmod": "Sun, 13 Mar 2016 04:23:32 GMT",
    "size": 42497,
    "type": "file",
    "mime": "image/jpeg",
    "etag": "33a728c7f288ede1fecc90ac6a10e062"
}

Properties:

Requests that return results, such as getDirectoryContents, getFileContents, getQuota, search and stat, can be configured to return more detailed information, such as response headers. Pass { details: true } to their options argument to receive an object like the following:

CORS is a security enforcement technique employed by browsers to ensure requests are executed to and from expected contexts. It can conflict with this library if the target server doesn't return CORS headers when making requests from a browser. It is your responsibility to handle this.

It is a known issue that Nextcloud servers by default don't return friendly CORS headers, making working with this library within a browser context impossible. You can of course force the addition of CORS headers (Apache or Nginx configs) yourself, but do this at your own risk.

• Buttercup Password Manager
• Nextcloud Server
• Nextcloud Photos
• ownCloud SDK
• React OxIDE
• BackItUp