Node.js quick start

This quick start is intended to let you quickly try using several common Cloudinary features. It doesn't necessarily employ coding best practices and the code you create here isn't intended for production.

You can perform this quick start in a code sandbox or in a clean project in the dev environment of your choice.

You can also view the completed code of this quick start in a GitHub repo and code explorer.

Prerequisites

To perform the steps in this quick start, you'll need:

• A Cloudinary account. If you don't have one yet, you can quickly register for free.
• Your product environment credentials. You can find your credentials in the Dashboard page of your Cloudinary Console.
• A working Node.js development environment with a supported version of Node.js.

1. Set up and configure the SDK

Install the SDK

In a terminal in your Node.js environment run:

npm install cloudinary

Set your API environment variable

In a terminal, set your CLOUDINARY_URL environment variable.

Replace CLOUDINARY_URL=cloudinary://API_KEY:API_SECRET@CLOUD_NAME with the API environment variable copied from your product environment credentials:

• On Mac or Linux:

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  export CLOUDINARY_URL=cloudinary://API_KEY:API_SECRET@CLOUD_NAME

• On Windows:

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  set CLOUDINARY_URL=cloudinary://API_KEY:API_SECRET@CLOUD_NAME

Configure Cloudinary

Create a new file called index.js and copy and paste the following into this file:

// Require the cloudinary library
const cloudinary = require('cloudinary').v2;

// Return "https" URLs by setting secure: true
cloudinary.config({
  secure: true
});

// Log the configuration
console.log(cloudinary.config());

2. Upload an image

Copy and paste this into index.js:

/////////////////////////
// Uploads an image file
/////////////////////////
const uploadImage = async (imagePath) => {

    // Use the uploaded file's name as the asset's public ID and 
    // allow overwriting the asset with new versions
    const options = {
      use_filename: true,
      unique_filename: false,
      overwrite: true,
    };

    try {
      // Upload the image
      const result = await cloudinary.uploader.upload(imagePath, options);
      console.log(result);
      return result.public_id;
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(error);
    }
};

3. Get and use details of the image

Copy and paste this into index.js:

/////////////////////////////////////
// Gets details of an uploaded image
/////////////////////////////////////
const getAssetInfo = async (publicId) => {

    // Return colors in the response
    const options = {
      colors: true,
    };

    try {
        // Get details about the asset
        const result = await cloudinary.api.resource(publicId, options);
        console.log(result);
        return result.colors;
        } catch (error) {
        console.error(error);
    }
};

4. Transform the image

Copy and paste this into index.js:

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Creates an HTML image tag with a transformation that
// results in a circular thumbnail crop of the image  
// focused on the faces, applying an outline of the  
// first color, and setting a background of the second color.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
const createImageTag = (publicId, ...colors) => {

    // Set the effect color and background color
    const [effectColor, backgroundColor] = colors;

    // Create an image tag with transformations applied to the src URL
    let imageTag = cloudinary.image(publicId, {
      transformation: [
        { width: 250, height: 250, gravity: 'faces', crop: 'thumb' },
        { radius: 'max' },
        { effect: 'outline:10', color: effectColor },
        { background: backgroundColor },
      ],
    });

    return imageTag;
};

5. Run your code

Copy and paste this into index.js to call the functions you just created:

//////////////////
//
// Main function
//
//////////////////
(async () => {

    // Set the image to upload
    const imagePath = 'https://cloudinary-devs.github.io/cld-docs-assets/assets/images/happy_people.jpg';

    // Upload the image
    const publicId = await uploadImage(imagePath);

    // Get the colors in the image
    const colors = await getAssetInfo(publicId);

    // Create an image tag, using two of the colors in a transformation
    const imageTag = await createImageTag(publicId, colors[0][0], colors[1][0]);

    // Log the image tag to the console
    console.log(imageTag);

})();

Save your changes then run the script from the terminal:

node index.js

You can see the image that has been uploaded to your Media Library by copying the secure_url that is returned in the upload response and pasting it in a browser.

You can use the returned image tag to display the image on your website. For now, copy and paste the URL to see the transformed image in the browser:

View the completed code

You can see the whole Node.js script in GitHub, and also in the code explorer below.

Code explorer: Full Node.js example

The full Node.js script is shown in the repl below (click Show files > index.js).

To run it:

1. Click the Run button to bring up the console. In the console, you'll see errors because you need to set your API environment variable. To set your API environment variable, enter the following at the prompt (replace CLOUDINARY_URL=cloudinary://API_KEY:API_SECRET@CLOUD_NAME with the API environment variable copied from your account credentials):

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   export CLOUDINARY_URL=cloudinary://API_KEY:API_SECRET@CLOUD_NAME

2. Run the script:

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   node index.js

This code is also available in GitHub.

Next steps

• Learn more about the Node.js SDK by visiting the other pages in this SDK guide.
• Get comprehensive details about Cloudinary features and capabilities:
  • Media upload guide: Provides details and examples of the upload options.
  • Image transformations guide: Provides details and examples of the transformations you can apply to image assets.
  • Video transformations guide: Provides details and examples of the transformations you can apply to video assets.
  • Transformation URL API Reference: Provides details and examples of all available transformation parameters.
  • Admin API guide: Provides details and examples of the methods available for managing and organizing your media assets.