This composable provides a convenient wrapper around [`useAsyncData`](/docs/api/composables/use-async-data) and [`$fetch`](/docs/api/utils/dollarfetch).
It automatically generates a key based on URL and fetch options, provides type hints for request url based on server routes, and infers API response type.
`useFetch` is a composable meant to be called directly in a setup function, plugin, or route middleware. It returns reactive composables and handles adding responses to the Nuxt payload so they can be passed from server to client without re-fetching the data on client side when the page hydrates.
Using the `query` option, you can add search parameters to your query. This option is extended from [unjs/ofetch](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch) and is using [unjs/ufo](https://github.com/unjs/ufo) to create the URL. Objects are automatically stringified.
All fetch options can be given a `computed` or `ref` value. These will be watched and new requests made automatically with any new values if they are updated.
-`key`: a unique key to ensure that data fetching can be properly de-duplicated across requests, if not provided, it will be automatically generated based on URL and fetch options
-`server`: whether to fetch the data on the server (defaults to `true`)
-`lazy`: whether to resolve the async function after loading the route, instead of blocking client-side navigation (defaults to `false`)
-`immediate`: when set to `false`, will prevent the request from firing immediately. (defaults to `true`)
-`default`: a factory function to set the default value of the `data`, before the async function resolves - useful with the `lazy: true` or `immediate: false` option
-`transform`: a function that can be used to alter `handler` function result after resolving
-`pick`: only pick specified keys in this array from the `handler` function result
-`watch`: watch an array of reactive sources and auto-refresh the fetch result when they change. Fetch options and URL are watched by default. You can completely ignore reactive sources by using `watch: false`. Together with `immediate: false`, this allows for a fully-manual `useFetch`.
-`deep`: return data in a deep ref object (it is `true` by default). It can be set to `false` to return data in a shallow ref object, which can improve performance if your data does not need to be deeply reactive.
::callout
If you provide a function or ref as the `url` parameter, or if you provide functions as arguments to the `options` parameter, then the `useFetch` call will not match other `useFetch` calls elsewhere in your codebase, even if the options seem to be identical. If you wish to force a match, you may provide your own key in `options`.
If you have not fetched data on the server (for example, with `server: false`), then the data _will not_ be fetched until hydration completes. This means even if you await `useFetch` on client-side, `data` will remain null within `<script setup>`.