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

About

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.

Supported Versions / Environments

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.

Note: Version 4 support will be dropped January 2025. Migrate to v5 as soon as possible.

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.

Requests

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.

Node support

Support table:

Library Major Version	Node JS Range
v5	14+
v4	10-18
v3	10-16
v2	6-14
v1	4-12

Browser support

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 support

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.

Types

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"
});

Installation

Simple install as a dependency using npm:

npm install webdav --save

Usage

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"
// }]

Authentication & Connection

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.

Basic/no 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.

OAuth tokens

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"
});

Digest authentication

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"
    }
);

Client configuration

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

The available configuration options are as follows:

Option	Default	Description
authType	null	The authentication type to use. If not provided, defaults to trying to detect based upon whether username and password were provided.
contactHref	This URL	Contact URL used for LOCKs.
headers	{}	Additional headers provided to all requests. Headers provided here are overridden by method-specific headers, including Authorization.
httpAgent	None	HTTP agent instance. Available only in Node. See http.Agent.
httpsAgent	None	HTTPS agent instance. Available only in Node. See https.Agent.
password	None	Password for authentication.
token	None	Token object for authentication.
username	None	Username for authentication.
withCredentials	None	Credentials inclusion setting for the request,

Client methods

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

copyFile

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>

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The source filename.
destination	Yes	The destination filename.
options	No	Method options.

createDirectory

Create a new directory.

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

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

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	The path to create.
options	No	Create directory options.
options.recursive	No	Recursively create directories if they do not exist.

options extends method options.

Recursive creation

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).

createReadStream

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

Argument	Required	Description
callback	No	Callback to fire with the response of the request.
filename	Yes	The remote file to stream.
options	No	Read stream options.
options.range	No	Stream range configuration.
options.range.start	Yes	Byte-position for the start of the stream.
options.range.end	No	Byte-position for the end of the stream.

options extends method options.

createWriteStream

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

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The remote file to stream.
options	No	Write stream options.
options.overwrite	No	Whether or not to overwrite the remote file if it already exists. Defaults to true.
callback	No	Callback to fire once the connection has been made and streaming has started. Callback is called with the response of the request.

options extends method options.

customRequest

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>

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	The path to make a custom request against.
requestOptions	Yes	Request options - required parameters such as url, method etc. - Refer to the RequestOptionsCustom type definition.

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

deleteFile

Delete a remote file.

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

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

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The file to delete.
options	No	Method options.

exists

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>

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	The remote path to check.
options	No	Method options.

getDirectoryContents

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>>>

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	The path to fetch the contents of.
options	No	Configuration options.
options.deep	No	Fetch deep results (recursive). Defaults to false.
options.details	No	Fetch detailed results (item stats, headers). Defaults to false.
options.glob	No	Glob string for matching filenames. Not set by default.

options extends method options.

getFileContents

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>>

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The file to fetch the contents of.
options	No	Configuration options.
options.details	No	Fetch detailed results (additional headers). Defaults to false.
options.format	No	Whether to fetch binary ("binary") data or textual ("text"). Defaults to "binary".

options extends method options.

getFileDownloadLink

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

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The remote file to generate a download link for.

getFileUploadLink

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

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	The remote file to generate an upload link for.

getQuota

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>>

Argument	Required	Description
options	No	Configuration options.
options.details	No	Return detailed results (headers etc.). Defaults to false.
options.path	No	Path used to make the quota request.

options extends method options.

lock

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>

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	The path to lock.
options	No	Configuration options.
options.timeout	No	WebDAV lock requested timeout. See the WebDAV Timeout header documentation.
options.refreshToken	No	Previous valid lock token that should be refreshed.

options extends method options.

moveFile

Move a file to another location.

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

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

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	File to move.
destinationFilename	Yes	Destination filename.
options	No	Method options.

putFileContents

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>

Argument	Required	Description
filename	Yes	File to write to.
data	Yes	The data to write. Can be a string, buffer or a readable stream.
options	No	Configuration options.
options.contentLength	No	Data content length override. Either a boolean (true (default) = calculate, false = don't set) or a number indicating the exact byte length of the file.
options.overwrite	No	Whether or not to override the remote file if it exists. Defaults to true.

options extends method options.

partialUpdateFileContents

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>

Argument	Required	Description
filePath	Yes	File to update.
start	Yes	Start byte position. (inclusive)
end	Yes	End byte position. (inclusive)
data	Yes	The data to write. Can be a string, buffer or a readable stream.
options	No	Configuration options.

search

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>>

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	Remote path to which executes the search.
options	No	Configuration options.
options.details	No	Return detailed results (headers etc.). Defaults to false.

options extends method options.

stat

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>>

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	Remote path to stat.
options	No	Configuration options.
options.details	No	Return detailed results (headers etc.). Defaults to false.

options extends method options.

unlock

Unlock a locked resource using a token.

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

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

Argument	Required	Description
path	Yes	Remote path to unlock.
token	Yes	Token string from a previous lock request.
options	No	Configuration options.

options extends method options.

Custom properties

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.

Method options

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

Option	Required	Description
data	No	Optional body/data value to send in the request. This overrides the original body of the request, if applicable.
headers	No	Optional headers object to apply to the request. These headers override all others, so be careful.
signal	No	Instance of AbortSignal, for aborting requests.

Common data structures

Item stats

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:

Property name	Type	Present	Description
filename	String	Always	File path of the remote item
basename	String	Always	Base filename of the remote item, no path
lastmod	String	Always	Last modification date of the item
size	Number	Always	File size - 0 for directories
type	String	Always	Item type - "file" or "directory"
mime	String	Files only	Mime type - for file items only
etag	String / null	When supported	ETag of the file
props	Object	details: true	Props object containing all item properties returned by the server

Detailed responses

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:

Property	Type	Description
data	*	The data returned by the procedure. Will be whatever type is returned by calling without { details: true }
headers	Object	The response headers.
status	Number	The numeric status code.
statusText	String	The status text.

CORS

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.

Projects using this WebDAV client

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