React Axios example - Get/Post/Put/Delete with Rest API

In one of my previous articles, I have explained how to fetch and display data from API in React. In this article, we will see how to use Axios for calling APIs.

Project setup

We will be displaying a list of persons and their job titles in this application. Users will have options to add a new record, update a record and delete a record.

Mock API server

We will be configuring a json-server, which will help us to build a mock API, which can be called using Axios.

First, install json-server globally (if you haven't already):

1npm i -g json-server

Now create a file named persons.json with the following data:

1{"persons":[{"id":"4e03b8f4-b8b2-4af5-92d5-cf224a383c8c","name":"Lauren Gleason","jobTitle":"Direct Branding Representative"},{"id":"bd2d3b33-1d55-47d4-9ed5-4e42c13d9260","name":"Jill Watsica","jobTitle":"Legacy Factors Officer"},{"id":"a6075a16-239e-4f75-a662-3b45e6b6f840","name":"Drew Kovacek","jobTitle":"Senior Applications Developer"},{"id":"3ffb24ad-4f33-451c-a833-f46b7e43013a","name":"Gabriel Buckridge","jobTitle":"Regional Tactics Facilitator"},{"id":"4e5e69bf-dd47-425f-9c2e-5d20e64cf622","name":"Glen Moen","jobTitle":"Human Operations Officer"},{"id":"41ab6ee0-fa2c-4fa5-8f0b-6bde7e8d3312","name":"Mrs. Bonnie Wolff","jobTitle":"Dynamic Directives Consultant"},{"id":"bbe9b920-75c3-4e7d-8ebb-eed49c3301f9","name":"Ron Marquardt","jobTitle":"Dynamic Usability Producer"},{"id":"ecbcb95d-288d-403f-934b-f9012958646c","name":"Jan Vandervort","jobTitle":"District Infrastructure Director"},{"id":"f5e18689-c923-428c-b3fd-10db9763d7ab","name":"Julius Lynch","jobTitle":"International Branding Planner"},{"id":"d523f6bd-3c31-4c81-a33c-8f25028309e7","name":"Walter Dibbert","jobTitle":"Central Factors Planner"}]}

Now run the following command to start the API:

1json-server persons.json -p 8001

Once the server is started, you will be able to see the API response in http://localhost:8001/persons

Here, persons.json acts as a data store and we will be able to create a new record, update an existing record, and delete a record using json-server.

React setup

Create a React project by running the following command:

1npx create-react-app react-axios

Now install the following packages:

1npm i axios @blueprintjs/core uuid

Axios - used to make API calls.
BluePrintJS - toolkit for UI components
uuid- For creating a unique id while adding a new record.

Update index.css with the following styles:

index.css

1@import "~normalize.css";
2@import "~@blueprintjs/core/lib/css/blueprint.css";
3@import "~@blueprintjs/icons/lib/css/blueprint-icons.css";
4body {
5  margin-top: 10px;
6}
7.App {
8  display: flex;
9  justify-content: center;
10}
11.spinner {
12  height: 100vh;
13  display: flex;
14  align-items: center;
15}

Here we are including the BluePrintJS styles and some custom styling.

Fetching the data

In the App.js, we will fetch and display the name and job title:

App.js

1import { Card } from "@blueprintjs/core"
2import axios from "axios"
3import { useEffect, useState } from "react"
4
5function App() {
6  const [persons, setPersons] = useState([])
7  useEffect(() => {
8    axios.get("http://localhost:8001/persons").then(response => {
9      setPersons(response.data)
10    })
11  }, [])
12
13  return (
14    <div className="App">
15      <Card>
16        <table className="bp3-html-table .modifier">
17          <thead>
18            <tr>
19              <th>Name</th>
20              <th>Job Title</th>
21            </tr>
22          </thead>
23          <tbody>
24            {persons.map(person => {
25              return (
26                <tr key={person.id}>
27                  <td>{person.name}</td>
28                  <td>{person.jobTitle}</td>
29                </tr>
30              )
31            })}
32          </tbody>
33        </table>
34      </Card>
35    </div>
36  )
37}
38
39export default App

As highlighted above, we can call axios.get() to make GET calls and response.data will contain the response body in JSON format.

If you run the application now and load it, you will see the table populated with person details:

Updating the data

We can use the following code to update the record:

App.js

1import {
2  Card,
3  Button,
4  EditableText,
5  Toaster,
6  Position,
7} from "@blueprintjs/core"
8import axios from "axios"
9import { useEffect, useState } from "react"
10
11const AppToaster = Toaster.create({
12  position: Position.TOP,
13})
14
15function App() {
16  const [persons, setPersons] = useState([])
17  useEffect(() => {
18    axios.get("http://localhost:8001/persons").then(response => {
19      setPersons(response.data)
20    })
21  }, [])
22
23  const onChangeHandler = (id, key, value) => {
24    setPersons(values => {
25      return values.map(item =>
26        item.id === id ? { ...item, [key]: value } : item
27      )
28    })
29  }
30
31  const updateData = id => {
32    const data = persons.find(item => item.id === id)
33    axios.put(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`, data).then(response => {
34      AppToaster.show({
35        message: "Data updated successfully",
36        intent: "success",
37        timeout: 3000,
38      })
39    })
40  }
41
42  return (
43    <div className="App">
44      <Card>
45        <table className="bp3-html-table .modifier">
46          <thead>
47            <tr>
48              <th>Name</th>
49              <th>Job Title</th>
50              <th>Actions</th>
51            </tr>
52          </thead>
53          <tbody>
54            {persons.map(person => {
55              return (
56                <tr key={person.id}>
57                  <td>
58                    <EditableText
59                      value={person.name}
60                      onChange={value =>
61                        onChangeHandler(person.id, "name", value)
62                      }
63                    />
64                  </td>
65                  <td>
66                    <EditableText
67                      value={person.jobTitle}
68                      onChange={value =>
69                        onChangeHandler(person.id, "jobTitle", value)
70                      }
71                    />
72                  </td>
73                  <td>
74                    <Button
75                      intent="primary"
76                      onClick={() => updateData(person.id)}
77                    >
78                      Update
79                    </Button>
80                  </td>
81                </tr>
82              )
83            })}
84          </tbody>
85        </table>
86      </Card>
87    </div>
88  )
89}
90
91export default App

In the above code,

We have added a column called Actions to the table and an update button against each record.
We are using EditableText from BluePrintJS to make the text editable when hovered.
We have written an onChangeHandler function, which will be called when the user updates the data, and it will be saved to the local state called persons. If you are new to React, then you can read about how to use useState hook to store and update arrays.
When the update button is clicked, we are calling updateData, which calls the axios.put() function to make a PUT request call, to update the particular record.
In the .then() block, we are using Toaster to display a toast message to the user indicating that the record has been updated.

If you run the application now, change the info and click on update, it should get updated and a toast message should be shown:

Deleting the data

Now we will see how to delete an individual record. We can make use of axios.delete() function for the same.

App.js

1import {
2  Card,
3  Button,
4  EditableText,
5  Toaster,
6  Position,
7} from "@blueprintjs/core"
8import axios from "axios"
9import { useEffect, useState } from "react"
10
11const AppToaster = Toaster.create({
12  position: Position.TOP,
13})
14
15function App() {
16  const [persons, setPersons] = useState([])
17  useEffect(() => {
18    axios.get("http://localhost:8001/persons").then(response => {
19      setPersons(response.data)
20    })
21  }, [])
22
23  const onChangeHandler = (id, key, value) => {
24    setPersons(values => {
25      return values.map(item =>
26        item.id === id ? { ...item, [key]: value } : item
27      )
28    })
29  }
30
31  const updateData = id => {
32    const data = persons.find(item => item.id === id)
33    axios.put(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`, data).then(response => {
34      AppToaster.show({
35        message: "Data updated successfully",
36        intent: "success",
37        timeout: 3000,
38      })
39    })
40  }
41
42  const deleteData = id => {
43    axios.delete(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`).then(response => {
44      setPersons(values => {
45        return values.filter(item => item.id !== id)
46      })
47
48      AppToaster.show({
49        message: "Data deleted successfully",
50        intent: "success",
51        timeout: 3000,
52      })
53    })
54  }
55
56  return (
57    <div className="App">
58      <Card>
59        <table className="bp3-html-table .modifier">
60          <thead>
61            <tr>
62              <th>Name</th>
63              <th>Job Title</th>
64              <th>Actions</th>
65            </tr>
66          </thead>
67          <tbody>
68            {persons.map(person => {
69              return (
70                <tr key={person.id}>
71                  <td>
72                    <EditableText
73                      value={person.name}
74                      onChange={value =>
75                        onChangeHandler(person.id, "name", value)
76                      }
77                    />
78                  </td>
79                  <td>
80                    <EditableText
81                      value={person.jobTitle}
82                      onChange={value =>
83                        onChangeHandler(person.id, "jobTitle", value)
84                      }
85                    />
86                  </td>
87                  <td>
88                    <Button
89                      intent="primary"
90                      onClick={() => updateData(person.id)}
91                    >
92                      Update
93                    </Button>
94                    &nbsp;
95                    <Button
96                      intent="danger"
97                      onClick={() => deleteData(person.id)}
98                    >
99                      Delete
100                    </Button>
101                  </td>
102                </tr>
103              )
104            })}
105          </tbody>
106        </table>
107      </Card>
108    </div>
109  )
110}
111
112export default App

Creating a new record

In this section, we will see how to add a new record:

App.js

1import {
2  Card,
3  Button,
4  EditableText,
5  Toaster,
6  Position,
7  InputGroup,
8} from "@blueprintjs/core"
9import axios from "axios"
10import { useEffect, useState } from "react"
11import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid"
12
13const AppToaster = Toaster.create({
14  position: Position.TOP,
15})
16
17function App() {
18  const [persons, setPersons] = useState([])
19  const [newName, setNewName] = useState()
20  const [newJobTitle, setNewJobTitle] = useState()
21  useEffect(() => {
22    axios.get("http://localhost:8001/persons").then(response => {
23      setPersons(response.data)
24    })
25  }, [])
26
27  const onChangeHandler = (id, key, value) => {
28    setPersons(values => {
29      return values.map(item =>
30        item.id === id ? { ...item, [key]: value } : item
31      )
32    })
33  }
34
35  const updateData = id => {
36    const data = persons.find(item => item.id === id)
37    axios.put(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`, data).then(response => {
38      AppToaster.show({
39        message: "Data updated successfully",
40        intent: "success",
41        timeout: 3000,
42      })
43    })
44  }
45
46  const deleteData = id => {
47    axios.delete(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`).then(response => {
48      setPersons(values => {
49        return values.filter(item => item.id !== id)
50      })
51
52      AppToaster.show({
53        message: "Data deleted successfully",
54        intent: "success",
55        timeout: 3000,
56      })
57    })
58  }
59
60  const addPerson = () => {
61    if (newName?.trim() && newJobTitle?.trim()) {
62      axios
63        .post("http://localhost:8001/persons", {
64          id: uuidv4(),
65          name: newName.trim(),
66          jobTitle: newJobTitle.trim(),
67        })
68        .then(response => {
69          setPersons([...persons, response.data])
70          setNewName("")
71          setNewJobTitle("")
72        })
73    }
74  }
75
76  return (
77    <div className="App">
78      <Card>
79        <table className="bp3-html-table .modifier">
80          <thead>
81            <tr>
82              <th>Name</th>
83              <th>Job Title</th>
84              <th>Actions</th>
85            </tr>
86          </thead>
87          <tbody>
88            {persons.map(person => {
89              return (
90                <tr key={person.id}>
91                  <td>
92                    <EditableText
93                      value={person.name}
94                      onChange={value =>
95                        onChangeHandler(person.id, "name", value)
96                      }
97                    />
98                  </td>
99                  <td>
100                    <EditableText
101                      value={person.jobTitle}
102                      onChange={value =>
103                        onChangeHandler(person.id, "jobTitle", value)
104                      }
105                    />
106                  </td>
107                  <td>
108                    <Button
109                      intent="primary"
110                      onClick={() => updateData(person.id)}
111                    >
112                      Update
113                    </Button>
114                    &nbsp;
115                    <Button
116                      intent="danger"
117                      onClick={() => deleteData(person.id)}
118                    >
119                      Delete
120                    </Button>
121                  </td>
122                </tr>
123              )
124            })}
125          </tbody>
126          <tfoot>
127            <tr>
128              <td>
129                <InputGroup
130                  placeholder="Add name here..."
131                  value={newName}
132                  onChange={e => setNewName(e.target.value)}
133                />
134              </td>
135              <td>
136                <InputGroup
137                  placeholder="Add job title here..."
138                  value={newJobTitle}
139                  onChange={e => setNewJobTitle(e.target.value)}
140                />
141              </td>
142              <td>
143                <Button intent="success" onClick={() => addPerson()}>
144                  Add Person
145                </Button>
146              </td>
147            </tr>
148          </tfoot>
149        </table>
150      </Card>
151    </div>
152  )
153}
154
155export default App

In the above code,

We have 2 local states, newName and newJobTitle to store the new record values, and we have added 2 input boxes to accept these values from the user.
We have a button named Add Person, when clicked, calls addPerson function. In addPerson, we are generating a unique id for the new record and calling axios.post for adding the record.
Once the record is created, we are updating the record to the local state and clearing the input fields.

Adding a loader

As you may have observed, when we load the page, the data will not be present initially and then it will load, creating a jumping effect. To avoid this, let's add a loader when the data is being loaded.

App.js

1import {
2  Card,
3  Button,
4  EditableText,
5  Toaster,
6  Position,
7  InputGroup,
8  Spinner,
9} from "@blueprintjs/core"
10import axios from "axios"
11import { useEffect, useState } from "react"
12import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid"
13
14const AppToaster = Toaster.create({
15  position: Position.TOP,
16})
17
18function App() {
19  const [persons, setPersons] = useState([])
20  const [newName, setNewName] = useState()
21  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false)
22  const [newJobTitle, setNewJobTitle] = useState()
23  useEffect(() => {
24    setLoading(true)
25    axios
26      .get("http://localhost:8001/persons")
27      .then(response => {
28        setPersons(response.data)
29      })
30      .finally(() => {
31        setLoading(false)
32      })
33  }, [])
34
35  const onChangeHandler = (id, key, value) => {
36    setPersons(values => {
37      return values.map(item =>
38        item.id === id ? { ...item, [key]: value } : item
39      )
40    })
41  }
42
43  const updateData = id => {
44    const data = persons.find(item => item.id === id)
45    axios.put(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`, data).then(response => {
46      AppToaster.show({
47        message: "Data updated successfully",
48        intent: "success",
49        timeout: 3000,
50      })
51    })
52  }
53
54  const deleteData = id => {
55    axios.delete(`http://localhost:8001/persons/${id}`).then(response => {
56      setPersons(values => {
57        return values.filter(item => item.id !== id)
58      })
59
60      AppToaster.show({
61        message: "Data deleted successfully",
62        intent: "success",
63        timeout: 3000,
64      })
65    })
66  }
67
68  const addPerson = () => {
69    if (newName?.trim() && newJobTitle?.trim()) {
70      axios
71        .post("http://localhost:8001/persons", {
72          id: uuidv4(),
73          name: newName.trim(),
74          jobTitle: newJobTitle.trim(),
75        })
76        .then(response => {
77          setPersons([...persons, response.data])
78          setNewName("")
79          setNewJobTitle("")
80        })
81    }
82  }
83
84  return (
85    <div className="App">
86      {loading ? (
87        <div className="spinner">
88          <Spinner />
89        </div>
90      ) : (
91        <Card>
92          <table className="bp3-html-table .modifier">
93            <thead>
94              <tr>
95                <th>Name</th>
96                <th>Job Title</th>
97                <th>Actions</th>
98              </tr>
99            </thead>
100            <tbody>
101              {persons.map(person => {
102                return (
103                  <tr key={person.id}>
104                    <td>
105                      <EditableText
106                        value={person.name}
107                        onChange={value =>
108                          onChangeHandler(person.id, "name", value)
109                        }
110                      />
111                    </td>
112                    <td>
113                      <EditableText
114                        value={person.jobTitle}
115                        onChange={value =>
116                          onChangeHandler(person.id, "jobTitle", value)
117                        }
118                      />
119                    </td>
120                    <td>
121                      <Button
122                        intent="primary"
123                        onClick={() => updateData(person.id)}
124                      >
125                        Update
126                      </Button>
127                      &nbsp;
128                      <Button
129                        intent="danger"
130                        onClick={() => deleteData(person.id)}
131                      >
132                        Delete
133                      </Button>
134                    </td>
135                  </tr>
136                )
137              })}
138            </tbody>
139            <tfoot>
140              <tr>
141                <td>
142                  <InputGroup
143                    placeholder="Add name here..."
144                    value={newName}
145                    onChange={e => setNewName(e.target.value)}
146                  />
147                </td>
148                <td>
149                  <InputGroup
150                    placeholder="Add job title here..."
151                    value={newJobTitle}
152                    onChange={e => setNewJobTitle(e.target.value)}
153                  />
154                </td>
155                <td>
156                  <Button intent="success" onClick={() => addPerson()}>
157                    Add Person
158                  </Button>
159                </td>
160              </tr>
161            </tfoot>
162          </table>
163        </Card>
164      )}
165    </div>
166  )
167}
168
169export default App

Error handling

In case the API is down, or we have provided an incorrect URL, then we can show an error message to the user:

1useEffect(() => {
2  setLoading(true)
3  axios
4    .get("http://localhost:8001/personss")
5    .then(response => {
6      setPersons(response.data)
7    })
8    .catch(error => {
9      console.log({ response: error.response })
10      AppToaster.show({
11        message: "Unable to load data, Something went wrong!",
12        intent: "danger",
13        timeout: 3000,
14      })
15    })
16    .finally(() => {
17      setLoading(false)
18    })
19}, [])

If you update the above code and run the application, you will be able to see the following error toast:

If you open the browser console, you will see that the response contains information like status and status text. Based on these parameters, you can display more meaningful error messages as well.

Async await syntax

So far in this article, we hav been using .then() syntax to resolve the Axios call. We can use the async-await syntax as well:

1useEffect(() => {
2  const fetchData = async () => {
3    setLoading(true)
4    try {
5      const response = await axios.get("http://localhost:8001/persons")
6      setPersons(response.data)
7    } catch (error) {
8      console.log({ error })
9      AppToaster.show({
10        message: "Unable to load data, Something went wrong!",
11        intent: "danger",
12        timeout: 3000,
13      })
14    } finally {
15      setLoading(false)
16    }
17  }
18  fetchData()
19}, [])

We have written a new function fetchData since useEffect function needs to be synchronous. You can read more about it here.

Axios instance configuration

Since we are using the same endpoint in multiple places, we can create an instance of axios and pass the URL configuration to it and use the created instance to make API calls.

Create a file named config.js with the following content:

config.js

1import axios from "axios"
2
3export const AxiosInstance = axios.create({
4  baseURL: "http://localhost:8001/persons/",
5  //   timeout: 1000,
6  //   headers: { "X-Custom-Header": "foobar" },
7})

As you can see, apart from giving the URL, we can provide other parameters like timeout, custom headers as well.

We can use them in the App.js:

App.js

1import {
2  Card,
3  Button,
4  EditableText,
5  Toaster,
6  Position,
7  InputGroup,
8  Spinner,
9} from "@blueprintjs/core"
10import { useEffect, useState } from "react"
11import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid"
12import { AxiosInstance } from "./config"
13
14const AppToaster = Toaster.create({
15  position: Position.TOP,
16})
17
18function App() {
19  const [persons, setPersons] = useState([])
20  const [newName, setNewName] = useState()
21  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false)
22  const [newJobTitle, setNewJobTitle] = useState()
23  useEffect(() => {
24    const fetchData = async () => {
25      setLoading(true)
26      try {
27        const response = await AxiosInstance.get()
28        setPersons(response.data)
29      } catch (error) {
30        console.log({ error })
31        AppToaster.show({
32          message: "Unable to load data, Something went wrong!",
33          intent: "danger",
34          timeout: 3000,
35        })
36      } finally {
37        setLoading(false)
38      }
39    }
40    fetchData()
41  }, [])
42
43  const onChangeHandler = (id, key, value) => {
44    setPersons(values => {
45      return values.map(item =>
46        item.id === id ? { ...item, [key]: value } : item
47      )
48    })
49  }
50
51  const updateData = id => {
52    const data = persons.find(item => item.id === id)
53    AxiosInstance.put(`${id}`, data).then(response => {
54      AppToaster.show({
55        message: "Data updated successfully",
56        intent: "success",
57        timeout: 3000,
58      })
59    })
60  }
61
62  const deleteData = id => {
63    AxiosInstance.delete(`${id}`).then(response => {
64      setPersons(values => {
65        return values.filter(item => item.id !== id)
66      })
67
68      AppToaster.show({
69        message: "Data deleted successfully",
70        intent: "success",
71        timeout: 3000,
72      })
73    })
74  }
75
76  const addPerson = () => {
77    if (newName?.trim() && newJobTitle?.trim()) {
78      AxiosInstance.post("", {
79        id: uuidv4(),
80        name: newName.trim(),
81        jobTitle: newJobTitle.trim(),
82      }).then(response => {
83        setPersons([...persons, response.data])
84        setNewName("")
85        setNewJobTitle("")
86      })
87    }
88  }
89
90  return (
91    <div className="App">
92      {loading ? (
93        <div className="spinner">
94          <Spinner />
95        </div>
96      ) : (
97        <Card>
98          <table className="bp3-html-table .modifier">
99            <thead>
100              <tr>
101                <th>Name</th>
102                <th>Job Title</th>
103                <th>Actions</th>
104              </tr>
105            </thead>
106            <tbody>
107              {persons.map(person => {
108                return (
109                  <tr key={person.id}>
110                    <td>
111                      <EditableText
112                        value={person.name}
113                        onChange={value =>
114                          onChangeHandler(person.id, "name", value)
115                        }
116                      />
117                    </td>
118                    <td>
119                      <EditableText
120                        value={person.jobTitle}
121                        onChange={value =>
122                          onChangeHandler(person.id, "jobTitle", value)
123                        }
124                      />
125                    </td>
126                    <td>
127                      <Button
128                        intent="primary"
129                        onClick={() => updateData(person.id)}
130                      >
131                        Update
132                      </Button>
133                      &nbsp;
134                      <Button
135                        intent="danger"
136                        onClick={() => deleteData(person.id)}
137                      >
138                        Delete
139                      </Button>
140                    </td>
141                  </tr>
142                )
143              })}
144            </tbody>
145            <tfoot>
146              <tr>
147                <td>
148                  <InputGroup
149                    placeholder="Add name here..."
150                    value={newName}
151                    onChange={e => setNewName(e.target.value)}
152                  />
153                </td>
154                <td>
155                  <InputGroup
156                    placeholder="Add job title here..."
157                    value={newJobTitle}
158                    onChange={e => setNewJobTitle(e.target.value)}
159                  />
160                </td>
161                <td>
162                  <Button intent="success" onClick={() => addPerson()}>
163                    Add Person
164                  </Button>
165                </td>
166              </tr>
167            </tfoot>
168          </table>
169        </Card>
170      )}
171    </div>
172  )
173}
174
175export default App

Rather than having the API url hardcoded in the config.js, you can store it in a .env file so that if there are different API endpoints for different environments, we can configure them easily. You can read more about it here.

Advantages of using axios

You might be wondering why use Axios when we have native API like fetch.

Following are the advantages of using Axios:

We can create an instance of Axios with pre-configurations.
No need to convert the request body to string by calling JSON.stringify and response to JSON by calling await response.json(). Axios handles this for us.
Error handling needs to be done only in the catch block. If you have used fetch earlier, then you might know that you will have to handle errors in 2 different places as shown below, which can be a pain:

1fetch("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/404")
2  .then(response => {
3    if (response.ok) {
4      return response.json()
5    } else {
6      // Handle error 1
7    }
8  })
9  .then(data => {
10    console.log(data)
11  })
12  .catch(error => {
13    //Handle error 2
14  })

Source code

You can view the complete source code here.

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React Axios example - Get/Post/Put/Delete with Rest API

Table of Contents

Project setup

Mock API server

React setup

Fetching the data

Updating the data

Deleting the data

Creating a new record

Adding a loader

Error handling

Async await syntax

Axios instance configuration

Advantages of using axios

Source code

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