Swell for Node.js (swell-node) is an API-wrapper written in Javascript aimed at backend development. It provides some convenient methods for performing CRUD operations on your Swell store data using a server-side JavaScript application. It also allows you to connect multiple store instances within the same process.

In this guide, we’ll review what frameworks can be used with swell-node, some commonly used Node.js methods, and the options available when initializing the client.

Find the swell-node library on Github.

Installation

Install swell-node
npm install swell-node --save

Using different frameworks

The library can be used with frameworks that support server-side rendering like Next.js, Astro, and others. This library can also be used with a standalone server-side application written in Node.js.

Methods

swell-node is used for querying and modifying backend data such as account, product, and cart details. Some of the most commonly used methods in the library include:

  • init
  • createClient
  • get, put, post, delete

In this section, we’ll go over what each method is used for, the parameters for each one, and see an example of how it’s used.

init

The init method is used to initialize the client. The parameters for this method are clientId, clientKey, and options.

The optional options parameter accepts url, verifyCert, version, timeout, headers, retries, maxSockets, and keepAliveMs. Use timeout to set a request timeout in milliseconds, and retries to retry requests that fail with a connection error (default 0).

Example of the init method
const { swell } = require('swell-node');

swell.init('my-store', 'secret-key');

createClient

The createClient method returns a new client instance, allowing you to connect to multiple stores within the same process. The parameters for this method are clientId, clientKey, and optionally options.

Example of the createClient method
const client1 = swell.createClient('my-store-1', 'secret-key-1');
const client2 = swell.createClient('my-store-2', 'secret-key-2');

get/put/post/delete

The get/put/post/delete methods are CRUD operations used to manage and edit your Swell store data and content models. You can also use these CRUD operations to implement custom logic to your store’s data. The parameters for these methods are url and data. They return a promise with the result.

All methods
// Retrieve all active products.
const products = await swell.get('/products', { active: true })