Node.js SDK

Overview

Cloudinary is a cloud-based service that provides an end-to-end image and video management solution. The Node.js SDK provides simple, yet comprehensive image and video manipulation, optimization, and delivery capabilities that you can implement using code that integrates seamlessly with your existing Node.js SDK application.

On this page:

Quick example: Transformations

The following Cloudinary URL and corresponding Node.js SDK code delivers the image below in an https delivery URL, including all of the following transformations:

  • Thumbnail crop to a size of 150x150 pixels using face detection gravity to automatically determine the location for the crop
  • Rounded corners with a 20 pixel radius
  • Sepia effect
  • Overlay of the Cloudinary logo on the southeast corner (with a slight offset). The logo is scaled down to a 50 pixel width, with increased brightness, and partial transparency (opacity = 60%)
  • Rotated by 10 degrees
  • Converted to and delivered in PNG format (the originally uploaded image was a JPG)

URLNode.js
URL:
https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/w_150,h_150,c_thumb,g_face,r_20,e_sepia/l_cloudinary_icon,g_south_east,x_5,y_5,w_50,o_60,e_brightness:200/a_10/front_face.png
Node.js:
cloudinary.image("front_face.png", {secure: true, transformation: [
  {width: 150, height: 150, gravity: "face", radius: 20, effect: "sepia", crop: "thumb"},
  {overlay: "cloudinary_icon", gravity: "south_east", x: 5, y: 5, width: 50, opacity: 60, effect: "brightness:200"},
  {angle: 10}
  ]})
sample transformation

Quick example: File upload

The following Node.js code uploads the dog.mp4 video to the specified account sub-folder using the public_id, my_dog. The video will overwrite the existing my_dog video if it exists. When the video upload is complete, the specified notification URL will receive details about the uploaded media asset.

cloudinary.v2.uploader.upload("dog.mp4", 
  {resource_type: "video", public_id: "my_folder/my_sub_folder/my_dog",
  overwrite: true, notification_url: "https://mysite.example.com/notify_endpoint"},
  function(error, result) {console.log(result, error)});

Node.js SDK features

  • Build URLs for image and video manipulations
  • Node.js helper methods for embedding and transforming images
  • API wrappers: file upload, administration, sprite generation and more
  • Server-side file upload + direct unsigned file upload from the browser using the jQuery plugin

Node.js capitalization and data type guidelines

When using the Node.js SDK, keep these guidelines in mind:

  • Parameter names: snake_case. For example: public_id
  • Classes: PascalCase. For example: PreloadedFile
  • Methods: snake_case. For example: image_upload_tag
  • Pass parameter data as: Object

Installation and setup

Cloudinary's Node.js integration library is available as an open-source NPM. To install the Cloudinary NPM, run:

npm install cloudinary

Include Cloudinary's Node.js classes in your code:

var cloudinary = require('cloudinary');

Important
The Node.js SDK upload and admin method syntax examples shown throughout this documentation use the v2 signature. To avoid confusion, all code examples are shown in the format cloudinary.v2....

In your own code, it is recommended to include v2 of the Node.js classes as follows:

var cloudinary = require('cloudinary').v2;

Following this, your upload and admin API calls should omit the .v2 shown in the code examples of this guide.
For example, a simple image upload:

cloudinary.uploader.upload("my_image.jpg", function(error, result) {console.log(result, error)});

Configuration

To use the Cloudinary Node.js SDK, you have to configure at least your cloud_name. Your api_key and api_secret are also needed for secure API calls to Cloudinary (e.g., image and video uploads). You can additionally define a number of optional configuration parameters if relevant. You can find your account-specific configuration credentials in the dashboard of our Management Console.

Setting the configuration parameters can be done either programmatically in each call to a Cloudinary method or you can set them globally using either an environment variable or the config method.

Here's an example of setting configuration parameters globally in your Node application:

cloudinary.config({ 
  cloud_name: 'sample', 
  api_key: '874837483274837', 
  api_secret: 'a676b67565c6767a6767d6767f676fe1' 
});

Another configuration option allows you to dynamically configure the cloud_name, api_key, and api_secret by defining the CLOUDINARY_URL environment variable. Your account specific environment variable is listed on your Management Console dashboard in the following format:

CLOUDINARY_URL=cloudinary://my_key:my_secret@my_cloud_name

Sample projects

For additional useful code samples and to learn how to integrate Cloudinary with your Node.js applications, take a look at our Sample Projects.

  • Basic Node.js sample: Uploading local and remote images to Cloudinary and generating various transformation URLs.
  • Node.js Photo Album: A fully working web application that allows you to upload photos, maintain a database with references, list images with their metadata, and display them using various cloud-based transformations. Image uploading is performed both from the server side and directly from the browser using a jQuery plugin.

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