---
navigation.icon: uil:channel
description: Nuxt provides composables to handle data fetching within your application.
---

# Data Fetching

Nuxt provides useFetch, useLazyFetch, useAsyncData and useLazyAsyncData to handle data fetching within your application.

::alert{icon=👉}
**`useFetch`, `useLazyFetch`, `useAsyncData` and `useLazyAsyncData` only work during `setup` or `Lifecycle Hooks`**
::

## `useFetch`

Within your pages, components and plugins you can use `useFetch` to universally fetch from any URL.

This composable provides a convenient wrapper around `useAsyncData` and `$fetch`. 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.

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/composables/use-fetch"}
::

### Example

```vue [app.vue]
<script setup>
const { data: count } = await useFetch('/api/count')
</script>

<template>
  Page visits: {{ count }}
</template>
```

::LinkExample{link="/docs/examples/composables/use-fetch"}
::

## `useLazyFetch`

This composable behaves identically to `useFetch` with the `lazy: true` option set. In other words, the async function does not block navigation. That means you will need to handle the situation where the data is `null` (or whatever value you have provided in a custom `default` factory function).

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/composables/use-lazy-fetch"}
::

### Example

```vue
<template>
  <!-- you will need to handle a loading state -->
  <div v-if="pending">
    Loading ...
  </div>
  <div v-else>
    <div v-for="post in posts">
      <!-- do something -->
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

<script setup>
const { pending, data: posts } = useLazyFetch('/api/posts')
watch(posts, (newPosts) => {
  // Because posts starts out null, you will not have access
  // to its contents immediately, but you can watch it.
})
</script>
```

## `useAsyncData`

Within your pages, components and plugins you can use `useAsyncData` to get access to data that resolves asynchronously.

::alert
You might be asking yourself: what is the difference between `useFetch` and `useAsyncData`?

In brief, `useFetch` receives a URL and gets that data, whereas `useAsyncData` might have more complex logic. `useFetch(url)` is nearly equivalent to `useAsyncData(url, () => $fetch(url))` - it's developer experience sugar for the most common use case.
::

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/composables/use-async-data"}
::

### Example

```ts [server/api/count.ts]
let counter = 0
export default defineEventHandler(() => {
  counter++
  return counter
})
```

```vue [app.vue]
<script setup>
const { data } = await useAsyncData('count', () => $fetch('/api/count'))
</script>

<template>
  Page visits: {{ data }}
</template>
```

::LinkExample{link="/docs/examples/composables/use-async-data"}
::

## `useLazyAsyncData`

This composable behaves identically to `useAsyncData` with the `lazy: true` option set. In other words, the async function does not block navigation. That means you will need to handle the situation where the data is `null` (or whatever value you have provided in a custom `default` factory function).

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/composables/use-lazy-async-data"}
::

### Example

```vue
<template>
  <div>
    {{ pending ? 'Loading' : count }}
  </div>
</template>

<script setup>
const { pending, data: count } = useLazyAsyncData('count', () => $fetch('/api/count'))
watch(count, (newCount) => {
  // Because count starts out null, you won't have access
  // to its contents immediately, but you can watch it.
})
</script>
```

## Refreshing Data

Sometimes throughout the course of your user's page visit, you may need to refresh the data loaded from the API. This can happen if the user chooses to paginate, filter results, search, etc.

You can make use of the `refresh()` method returned from the `useFetch()` composable to refresh the data with different query parameters:

```vue
<script setup>
const page = ref(1)

const { data: users, pending, refresh, error } = await useFetch(() => `users?page=${page.value}&take=6`, { baseURL: config.API_BASE_URL }
)

function previous() {
  page.value--
  refresh()
}

function next() {
  page.value++
  refresh()
}
</script>
```

The key to making this work is to call the `refresh()` method returned from the `useFetch()` composable when a query parameter has changed.

By default, `refresh()` will cancel any pending requests their result will not update the data or pending state. Any previously awaited promises will not resolve until this new request resolves. You can prevent this behaviour by setting the `dedupe` option, which will instead return the promise for the currently-executing request, if there is one.

```js
refresh({ dedupe: true })
```

### `refreshNuxtData`

Invalidate the cache of `useAsyncData`, `useLazyAsyncData`, `useFetch` and `useLazyFetch` and trigger the refetch.

This method is useful if you want to refresh all the data fetching for a current page.

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/utils/refresh-nuxt-data"}
::

#### Example

```vue
<template>
  <div>
    {{ pending ? 'Loading' : count }}
  </div>
  <button @click="refresh">Refresh</button>
</template>

<script setup>
const { pending, data: count } = useLazyAsyncData('count', () => $fetch('/api/count'))

const refresh = () => refreshNuxtData('count')
</script>
```

### `clearNuxtData`

Delete cached data, error status and pending promises of `useAsyncData` and `useFetch`.

This method is useful if you want to invalidate the data fetching for another page.

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/utils/clear-nuxt-data"}
::

## Options API support

Nuxt 3 provides a way to perform `asyncData` fetching within the Options API. You must wrap your component definition within `defineNuxtComponent` for this to work.

```vue
<script>
export default defineNuxtComponent({
  fetchKey: 'hello',
  async asyncData () {
    return {
      hello: await $fetch('/api/hello')
    }
  }
})
</script>
```

::Alert
Using `<script setup lang="ts">` is the recommended way of declaring Vue components in Nuxt 3.
::

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/utils/define-nuxt-component"}
::

## Using `$fetch` directly

There are instances where you may need to directly call the API. Nuxt 3 provides a globally available `$fetch` method using [unjs/ofetch](https://github.com/unjs/ofetch) (in addition to `fetch`) with the same API as the [Fetch API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Fetch_API/Using_Fetch).

Using `$fetch` has a number of benefits, including:

It will handle 'smartly' making direct API calls if it's running on the server, or making a client-side call to your API if it's running on the client. (It can also handle calling third-party APIs.)

Plus, it comes with convenience features including automatically parsing responses and stringifying data.

::ReadMore{link="/docs/api/utils/dollarfetch"}
::

### Isomorphic `$fetch` and `fetch` calls

When we call `$fetch` in the browser, user headers like `cookie` will be directly sent to the API. But during server-side-rendering, since the `$fetch` request takes place 'internally' within the server, it doesn't include the user's browser cookies, nor does it pass on cookies from the fetch response.

#### Example: Pass Client Headers to the API

We can use [`useRequestHeaders`](/docs/api/composables/use-request-headers) to access and proxy cookies to the API from server-side.

The example below adds the request headers to an isomorphic `$fetch` call to ensure that the API endpoint has access to the same `cookie` header originally sent by the user.

```vue
<script setup>
const headers = useRequestHeaders(['cookie'])
const { data } = await useFetch('/api/me', { headers })
</script>
```

::alert{type="warning"}
Be very careful before proxying headers to an external API and just include headers that you need. Not all headers are safe to be bypassed and might introduce unwanted behavior. Here is a list of common headers that are NOT to be proxied:

* `host`, `accept`
* `content-length`, `content-md5`, `content-type`
* `x-forwarded-host`, `x-forwarded-port`, `x-forwarded-proto`
* `cf-connecting-ip`, `cf-ray`
::

#### Example: Pass Cookies From Server-side API Calls on SSR Response

 If you want to pass on/proxy cookies in the other direction, from an internal request back to the client, you will need to handle this yourself.

```ts [composables/fetch.ts]
export const fetchWithCookie = async (event: H3Event, url: string) => {
  const res = await $fetch.raw(url)
  const cookies = (res.headers.get('set-cookie') || '').split(',')
  for (const cookie of cookies) {
    appendHeader(event, 'set-cookie', cookie)
  }
  return res._data
}
```

```vue
<script setup lang="ts">
// This composable will automatically pass cookies to the client
const event = useRequestEvent()
const result = await fetchWithCookie(event, '/api/with-cookie')
onMounted(() => console.log(document.cookie))
</script>
```

## Best Practices

### Minimize Payload

The data returned by these composables will be stored inside the page payload. This means that every key returned that is not used in your component will be added to the payload.

::alert{icon=👉}
**We strongly recommend you only select the keys that you will use in your component.**
::

Imagine that `/api/mountains/everest` returns the following object:

```json
{
  "title": "Mount Everest",
  "description": "Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point",
  "height": "8,848 m",
  "countries": [
    "China",
    "Nepal"
  ],
  "continent": "Asia",
  "image": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Everest_kalapatthar.jpg/600px-Everest_kalapatthar.jpg"
}
```

If you plan to only use `title` and `description` in your component, you can select the keys by chaining the result of `$fetch` or `pick` option:

```vue
<script setup>
const { data: mountain } = await useFetch('/api/mountains/everest', { pick: ['title', 'description'] })
</script>

<template>
  <h1>{{ mountain.title }}</h1>
  <p>{{ mountain.description }}</p>
</template>
```

### Avoid double calls

Calling `$fetch` in code that is executed on both server and client (such as in the top level of a `setup` function) will fetch the data twice - initially on the server and then again on the client during the hydration phase. This is because `$fetch` does not automatically serialize or transfer the data to the client.

For example:

**/pages/price.vue**: Isomorphic code below executes `$fetch` twice (initially on the server, then again on the client).

```ts
<script setup lang="ts">
const price = $fetch('/api/price');
</script>
```

**/server/api/product.get.ts**: Server only code below executes `$fetch` only once at the server side.

```ts
export default eventHandler(async (event: H3Event) => {
  const price = $fetch('/api/price');
  return { color: getColor(), price };
});
```

If fetching twice isn't your intended behavior, to fetch only on the server side and transfer it to the client, wrap `$fetch` with `useAsyncData()` or use `useFetch()`.

```ts
<script setup lang="ts">
const { data } = await useAsyncData('price', () => $fetch('/api/price'));
// or
const { data } = await useFetch('/api/price')
</script>
```

## Using Async Setup

If you are using `async setup()`, the current component instance will be lost after the first `await`. (This is a Vue 3 limitation.) If you want to use multiple async operations, such as multiple calls to `useFetch`, you will need to use `<script setup>` or await them together at the end of setup.

::alert{icon=👉}
Using `<script setup>` is recommended, as it removes the limitation of using top-level await. [Read more](https://vuejs.org/api/sfc-script-setup.html#top-level-await)
::

```vue
<script>
export default defineComponent({
  async setup() {
    const [{ data: organization }, { data: repos }] = await Promise.all([
      useFetch(`https://api.github.com/orgs/nuxt`),
      useFetch(`https://api.github.com/orgs/nuxt/repos`)
    ])

    return {
      organization,
      repos
    }
  }
})
</script>

<template>
  <header>
    <h1>{{ organization.login }}</h1>
    <p>{{ organization.description }}</p>
  </header>
</template>
```

## Serialization

When fetching data from the `server` directory, the response is serialized using `JSON.stringify`. However, since serialization is limited to only JavaScript primitive types, Nuxt does its best to convert the return type of `$fetch` and `useFetch` to match the actual value.

::alert{icon=👉}
You can learn more about `JSON.stringify` limitations [here](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/JSON/stringify#description).
::

### Example

```ts [server/api/foo.ts]
export default defineEventHandler(() => {
  return new Date()
})
```

```vue [app.vue]
<script setup lang="ts">
// Type of `data` is inferred as string even though we returned a Date object
const { data } = await useFetch('/api/foo')
</script>
```

### Custom serializer function

To customize the serialization behavior, you can define a `toJSON` function on your returned object. If you define a `toJSON` method, Nuxt will respect the return type of the function and will not try to convert the types.

```ts [server/api/bar.ts]
export default defineEventHandler(() => {
  const data = {
    createdAt: new Date(),

    toJSON() {
      return {
        createdAt: {
          year: this.createdAt.getFullYear(),
          month: this.createdAt.getMonth(),
          day: this.createdAt.getDate(),
        },
      }
    },
  }
  return data
})

```

```vue [app.vue]
<script setup lang="ts">
// Type of `data` is inferred as
// {
//   createdAt: {
//     year: number
//     month: number
//     day: number
//   }
// }
const { data } = await useFetch('/api/bar')
</script>
```

### Using an alternative serializer

Nuxt does not currently support an alternative serializer to `JSON.stringify`. However, you can return your payload as a normal string and utilize the `toJSON` method to maintain type safety.

In the example below, we use [superjson](https://github.com/blitz-js/superjson) as our serializer.

```ts [server/api/superjson.ts]
import superjson from 'superjson'

export default defineEventHandler(() => {
  const data = {
    createdAt: new Date(),

    // Workaround the type conversion
    toJSON() {
      return this
    }
  }

  // Serialize the output to string, using superjson
  return superjson.stringify(data) as unknown as typeof data
})
```

```vue [app.vue]
<script setup lang="ts">
import superjson from 'superjson'

// `date` is inferred as { createdAt: Date } and you can safely use the Date object methods
const { data } = await useFetch('/api/superjson', {
  transform: (value) => {
    return superjson.parse(value as unknown as string)
  },
})
</script>
```