React + Fetch - HTTP DELETE Request Examples
Below is a quick set of examples to show how to send HTTP DELETE requests from React to a backend API using fetch() which comes bundled with all modern browsers.
Other HTTP examples available:
- React + Fetch: GET, POST, PUT
- React + Axios: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
- Angular: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
- Vue + Fetch: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
- Vue + Axios: GET, POST
- Blazor WebAssembly: GET, POST
- Axios: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
- Fetch: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
Simple DELETE request with fetch
This sends an HTTP DELETE request to the JSONPlaceholder api which is a fake online REST api that includes a /posts/:id route that responds to DELETE requests with a HTTP 200 OK response. When the response is received the React component displays the status message 'Delete successful'.
componentDidMount() {
// Simple DELETE request with fetch
fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1', { method: 'DELETE' })
.then(() => this.setState({ status: 'Delete successful' }));
}
Example React component at https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-http-delete-request-examples-fetch?file=App/DeleteRequest.jsx
DELETE request using fetch with React hooks
This sends the same DELETE request from React using fetch, but this version uses React hooks from a function component instead of lifecycle methods from a traditional React class component. The useEffect React hook replaces the componentDidMount lifecycle method to make the HTTP DELETE request when the component loads.
The second parameter to the useEffect React hook is an array of dependencies that determines when the hook is run, passing an empty array causes the hook to only be run once when the component first loads, like the componentDidMount lifecyle method in a class component. For more info on React hooks see https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-intro.html.
useEffect(() => {
// DELETE request using fetch inside useEffect React hook
fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1', { method: 'DELETE' })
.then(() => setStatus('Delete successful'));
// empty dependency array means this effect will only run once (like componentDidMount in classes)
}, []);
Example React hooks component at https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-http-delete-request-examples-fetch?file=App/DeleteRequestHooks.jsx
DELETE request using fetch with async/await
This sends the same DELETE request from React using fetch, but this version uses an async function and the await javascript expression to wait for the promises to return (instead of using the promise then() method as above).
useEffect(() => {
// DELETE request using fetch with async/await
async function deletePost() {
await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1', { method: 'DELETE' });
setStatus('Delete successful');
}
deletePost();
}, []);
Example React component at https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-http-delete-request-examples-fetch?file=App/DeleteRequestAsyncAwait.jsx
DELETE request using fetch with error handling
This sends a DELETE request from React to an invalid url on the api then assigns the error to the errorMessage component state property and logs the error to the console.
The fetch() function will automatically throw an error for network errors but not for HTTP errors such as 4xx or 5xx responses. For HTTP errors we can check the response.ok property to see if the request failed and reject the promise ourselves by calling return Promise.reject(error);. This approach means that both types of failed requests - network errors and http errors - can be handled by a single catch() block.
useEffect(() => {
// DELETE request using fetch with error handling
fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/invalid-url', { method: 'DELETE' })
.then(async response => {
const data = await response.json();
// check for error response
if (!response.ok) {
// get error message from body or default to response status
const error = (data && data.message) || response.status;
return Promise.reject(error);
}
setStatus('Delete successful');
})
.catch(error => {
setErrorMessage(error);
console.error('There was an error!', error);
});
}, []);
Example React component at https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-http-delete-request-examples-fetch?file=App/DeleteRequestErrorHandling.jsx
DELETE request using fetch with set HTTP headers
This sends the same DELETE request again from React using fetch with a couple of headers set, the HTTP Authorization header and a custom header My-Custom-Header.
useEffect(() => {
// DELETE request using fetch with set headers
const requestOptions = {
method: 'DELETE',
headers: {
'Authorization': 'Bearer my-token',
'My-Custom-Header': 'foobar'
}
};
fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1', requestOptions)
.then(() => setStatus('Delete successful'));
}, []);
Example React component at https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-http-delete-request-examples-fetch?file=App/DeleteRequestSetHeaders.jsx
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