How do I connect a React frontend to a Node backend?
Set the API URL in environment variables, use fetch or axios to call REST APIs, centralize all API calls in one folder, attach the JWT with an axios interceptor for protected endpoints, handle loading and errors consistently, and configure CORS on the backend.
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More FAQs in How to Connect a React Frontend to a Node Backend
Either works. axios is popular for its interceptors (useful for auth and error handling), automatic JSON parsing, and cleaner error handling. fetch is built into the browser but needs more manual setup. Choose based on your needs.
So the API surface is easy to find, change, and mock in tests. Scattering fetch calls across components makes the API hard to manage and mocks hard to write. A central api folder keeps it organized.
Use an axios interceptor that adds the Authorization header automatically to every request, so you do not repeat it on every call. The interceptor reads the token from wherever you store it and attaches it.
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