I'm trying to use node-fetch to do a GET request. I'm using dotenv to take the url, but the fetch retrieve me TypeError: Only absolute URLs are supported, the URL_ENV variable isn't undefined

require('dotenv').config();
let url = process.env.URL_ENV;
        fetch(url ,{method: 'GET'}).then(response => {
            return response.json() 
         })

I'm trying to use node-fetch to do a GET request. I'm using dotenv to take the url, but the fetch retrieve me TypeError: Only absolute URLs are supported, the URL_ENV variable isn't undefined

require('dotenv').config();
let url = process.env.URL_ENV;
        fetch(url ,{method: 'GET'}).then(response => {
            return response.json() 
         })

If I change the url variable with the content of the URL_ENVinside the .env file it works

let url = "http://192.168.1.140:8080"
        fetch(url,{method: 'GET'}).then(response => {
            return response.json()
        })

• javascript
• node.js
• dotenv

Share Improve this question Follow asked May 23, 2019 at 12:16 SMattiaSMattia 4911 gold badge11 silver badge66 bronze badges 8

• 1 Wele to Stack Overflow! Could you clarify you question? What is not working? What behavior do you expect? – Maris B. Commented May 23, 2019 at 12:22
• Thanks for you interest. I can't understand why putting the same url, in different way, I have two different behaviors. I'm expect that also with the env variable, the first snippet of code, the fetch works. – SMattia Commented May 23, 2019 at 13:53
• 1 Have you tried to check value of process.env.URL_ENV at run-time? Try to use Console.log() or similar method to find out the actual value. As the error says, it must be an absolute URL. – Maris B. Commented May 24, 2019 at 8:35
• Yes I have tried, http://192.168.1.140:8080 is printed – SMattia Commented May 24, 2019 at 9:01
• 3 If the code is not working with process.env.URL_ENV and suddenly works when you replace it with string literal http://192.168.1.140:8080 then there may be some unnecessary characters like spaces, tabs, newlines, etc.? – Maris B. Commented May 24, 2019 at 9:47

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1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 1

Do you have mas or semicolon symbols at the end of your lines in .env file? If you do, remove them and it should work