Node.js SDK reference (server-side)

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Last edited: May 16, 2022

Overview

This topic documents how to get started with the server-side Node.js SDK, and links to reference information on all of the supported features.

SDK quick links

LaunchDarkly's SDKs are open source. In addition to this reference guide, we provide source, API reference documentation, and sample applications:

Resource	Location
SDK API documentation	SDK API docs
GitHub repository	node-server-sdk
Sample applications	hello-node-server (JavaScript) hello-node-typescript (TypeScript) hello-bootstrap (JavaScript, server-side bootstrapping example)
Published module	npm

For use in server-side applications only

This SDK is intended for use in multi-user Node.js server applications. If you want to set up LaunchDarkly in JavaScript in a browser environment, read the JavaScript SDK reference. If you're creating a client-side Node application, read the Node SDK reference. If you're creating a desktop application in Electron, read the Electron SDK reference.

To learn more about LaunchDarkly's different SDK types, read Client-side and server-side SDKs.

The sample code snippets for this SDK are available in both JavaScript and TypeScript, where the sample code differs. To learn more, read Using LaunchDarkly with TypeScript.

Getting started

After you complete the Getting Started process, follow these instructions to start using the LaunchDarkly SDK in your Node.js application.

First, install the LaunchDarkly SDK as a dependency in your application using your application's dependency manager.

Here's how:

npm install launchdarkly-node-server-sdk
# In earlier versions, the package name was ldclient-node

Next, import the LaunchDarkly client in your application code:

const ld = require('launchdarkly-node-server-sdk');

After you install and import the SDK, create a single, shared instance of LDClient. Specify your SDK key here to authorize your application to connect to a particular environment within LaunchDarkly.

Here's how:

const client = ld.init('YOUR_SDK_KEY');

LDClient must be a singleton

It's important to make LDClient a singleton. The client instance maintains internal state that allows us to serve feature flags without making any remote requests. Do not instantiate a new client with every request.

The client emits a ready event when you initialize it and it can serve feature flags.

Using client, you can check which variation a particular user will receive for a given feature flag. The ready event is only emitted once, when you first initialize the client. In a production application, place your client.variation code so that it is invoked as needed.

Here is an example:

client.once('ready', () => {
  client.variation('YOUR_FLAG_KEY', user, false,
    (err, showFeature) => {
      if (showFeature) {
        // application code to show the feature
      } else {
        // the code to run if the feature is off
      }
    });
});

Promises and async

All asynchronous SDK methods which accept a callback also return a Promise. This means that if your application uses promises to manage asynchronous operations, interacting with the SDK should be convenient. Because the async/await syntax is based on Promises, these methods also work with await.

Here is an example:

// Using the .then() method to add a continuation handler for a Promise
client.variation('YOUR_FLAG_KEY', user, false).then((value) => {
  // application code
});
// Using "await" instead, within an async function
const value = await client.variation('YOUR_FLAG_KEY', user, false);

There is also an alternative to the ready event:

// Using .then() and .catch() to add success and error handlers to a Promise
client.waitForInitialization().then((client) => {
  // initialization complete
}).catch((err) => {
  // initialization failed
});
// Using "await" instead, within an async function
try {
  await client.waitForInitialization();
  // Initialization complete
} catch (err) {
  // Initialization failed
}

allFlagsState and flush also return a Promise.

Shutting down

Lastly, shut down the client when your application terminates. To learn more, read Shutting down.

Supported features

This SDK supports the following features: