How to access POST form fields in Express

Question

Here is my simple form: ``` ``` Here is my Express.js/Node.js code: ``` app.post('/userlogin', function(sReq, sRes){ var email = sReq.query.email.; } ``` I tried `sReq.query.email` or `sReq.query['email']` or `sReq.params['email']`, etc. None of them work. They all return `undefined`. When I change to a Get call, it works, so .. any idea?

Accepted Answer

Things have changed once again starting Express 4.16.0, you can now use `express.json()` and `express.urlencoded()` just like in Express 3.0.

This was different starting Express 4.0 to 4.15:

```
$ npm install --save body-parser
```

and then:

```
var bodyParser = require('body-parser')
app.use( bodyParser.json() );       // to support JSON-encoded bodies
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({     // to support URL-encoded bodies
  extended: true
})); 
```

The rest is like in Express 3.0:

Firstly you need to add some middleware to parse the post data of the body.

Add one or both of the following lines of code:

```
app.use(express.json());       // to support JSON-encoded bodies
app.use(express.urlencoded()); // to support URL-encoded bodies
```

Then, in your handler, use the `req.body` object:

```
// assuming POST: name=foo&color=red            <-- URL encoding
//
// or       POST: {"name":"foo","color":"red"}  <-- JSON encoding

app.post('/test-page', function(req, res) {
    var name = req.body.name,
        color = req.body.color;
    // ...
});
```

Note that the use of `express.bodyParser()` is not recommended.

```
app.use(express.bodyParser());
```

...is equivalent to:

```
app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded());
app.use(express.multipart());
```

Security concerns exist with `express.multipart()`, and so it is better to explicitly add support for the specific encoding type(s) you require. If you do need multipart encoding (to support uploading files for example) then you should read this.

How to access POST form fields in Express

Solution

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