🐕 rexi.js - a fluent little fetch...

rexi.js is an experimental, minimalist fetch wrapper with HTTP-verb shortcuts, form serialization, chainable body parsers, and throw-on-error semantics. It's the JSON-side companion for the fixi.js family: for the times you do need to talk to an API from client code.

Part of the fixi project.

Here is an example:

<script src="rexi.js"></script>
<script>
    let me = await get("/api/me").json()
    await post("/api/login", document.forms.login)          // form element
    await post("/api/users", {name: "Ada"})                 // JSON body
    await get("/search", {q: "hi"}, {include: "#filters"})  // query string + extra fields
</script>

Six verb helpers (get, head, post, put, patch, del) are attached to globalThis for zero-ceremony use. Each returns a decorated Promise<Response> with .json(), .text(), .blob(), .html(), .raw(), and .abort() sugar so the common case is one await.

Minimalism

rexi is deliberately tiny: no interceptor pipeline, no retry logic, no automatic base URL, no upload progress, no caching layer, no built-in download helper. If your app outgrows it, reach for ky or wretch.

Installing

Drop rexi.js into a script tag:

<script src="rexi.js"></script>

Or install via npm:

npm install rexi-js

API

Verbs

All six verbs share the same shape:

get|head|post|put|patch|del(url, body?, opts?)

del is used instead of delete because bare delete(x) is a JavaScript syntax trap. Both rexi.del and window.del are exposed.

Body normalization

The second positional arg is a logical "input". Its type decides the wire format:

Input	Sent as
FormData	as-is
HTMLFormElement	new FormData(el)
single named input element	FormData with one [name, value] entry
iterable of elements (e.g. moxi q(...))	FormData collecting each element's [name,value]
plain object	JSON.stringify, Content-Type: application/json
string / Blob / URLSearchParams / ArrayBuffer	passed straight to fetch
null / undefined	no body

Method disposition

By default GET / HEAD / DEL URL-encode the body into the query string (with repeating keys for array values), and POST / PUT / PATCH send it in the request body. Override with opts.send: "query" | "body".

Options

{
  include: selector | Element | iterable | Array<any of those>,  // merge extra form fields
  send:    "query" | "body",                                     // override method default
  timeout: ms,                                                   // abort after N ms
  signal:  AbortSignal,                                          // external cancel, chains in
  headers: {...},                                                // merged with auto Content-Type
  ...                                                            // passed through to fetch()
}

include with a JSON body promotes the request to form mode (the JSON object is flattened into FormData entries).

Response helpers

let p = get(url, body, opts)
await p.json()   // parsed JSON
await p.text()   // string
await p.blob()   // Blob
await p.html()   // DocumentFragment (parsed via <template>)
await p.raw()    // the raw Response
p.abort()        // cancel the underlying fetch

Non-2xx responses throw an Error carrying .status and .response (the raw Response, for bodies/headers).

Lifecycle events

rexi dispatches two CustomEvents on document:

• rexi:before - cancelable; detail.cfg = {url, init} can be mutated (e.g. to inject an Authorization header). preventDefault() aborts the request with AbortError.
• rexi:after - fires for every completed fetch (including non-2xx, before rexi throws); detail = {cfg, response}.

document.addEventListener("rexi:before", (e) => {
    e.detail.cfg.init.headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${token}`
})

LICENCE

Zero-Clause BSD
=============

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for
any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL
WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE
FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY
DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN
AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT
OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.