Create a Node.js web app to call an API

Article
05/23/2024

Applies to: White circle with a gray X symbol. Workforce tenants Green circle with a white check mark symbol. External tenants (learn more)

In this article, you prepare the app project you created in Tutorial: Prepare your external tenant to sign in users in a Node.js web app to call a web API. This article is the second part of a four-part guide series.

Prerequisites

Complete the steps in the first part of this guide series, Prepare external tenant to call an API in a Node.js web application.

Update project files

Create more files, fetch.js, todolistController.js, todos.js, todos.hbs and .env, then organize them to achieve the following project structure:

    ciam-sign-in-call-api-node-express-web-app/
    ├── .env
    └── server.js
    └── app.js
    └── authConfig.js
    └── fetch.js
    └── package.json
    └── auth/
        └── AuthProvider.js
    └── controller/
        └── authController.js
        └── todolistController.js
    └── routes/
        └── auth.js
        └── index.js
        └── todos.js
        └── users.js
    └── views/
        └── layouts.hbs
        └── error.hbs
        └── id.hbs
        └── index.hbs   
        └── todos.hbs 
    └── public/stylesheets/
        └── style.css

Install app dependencies

In your terminal, install more Node packages, axios, cookie-parser, body-parser, method-override, by running the following command:

    npm install axios cookie-parser body-parser method-override

Update app UI components

In your code editor, open views/index.hbs file, then add a View your todolist link:

    <a href="/todos">View your todolist</a>

Your views/index.hbs file now looks similar to the following file:

    <h1>{{title}}</h1>
    {{#if isAuthenticated }}
    <p>Hi {{username}}!</p>
    <a href="/users/id">View your ID token claims</a>
    <br>
    <a href="/todos">View your todolist</a>
    <br>
    <a href="/auth/signout">Sign out</a>
    {{else}}
    <p>Welcome to {{title}}</p>
    <a href="/auth/signin">Sign in</a>
    {{/if}}

We add a link to a UI that enables you interact with the ciam-ToDoList-api. We define the express route for this endpoint later in this guide.

In your code editor, open views/todos.hbs file, then add the following code:

    <h1>Todolist</h1>
    <div>
        <form action="/todos" method="POST">
            <input type="text" name="description" class="form-control" placeholder="Enter a task" aria-label="Enter a task"
                aria-describedby="button-addon">
            <button type="submit" id="button-addon">Add</button>
        </form>
    </div>
    <div class="row" style="margin: 10px;">
        <ol id="todoListItems" class="list-group"> 
            {{#each todos}} 
            <li class="todoListItem" id="todoListItem">
                <span>{{description}}</span>
                <form action='/todos?_method=DELETE' method='POST'>
                    <span><input type='hidden' name='_id' value='{{id}}'></span>
                    <span><button type='submit'>Remove</button></span>
                </form>
            </li> 
            {{/each}} 
        </ol>
    </div>
    <a href="/">Go back</a>

This view allows the user to perform tasks that initiate an API call. For instance, after a user signs in, and the app acquires an access token, the user can create a resource (task) in the API app by submitting a form.

Next steps

Next, learn how to sign-in users and acquire an access token:

Sign-in users and acquire an access token

Share via