nodejs validator

node-validator is a library of string validation, filtering and sanitization methods.

To install node-validator, use npm:

$ npm install validator

To use the library in the browser, include validator-min.js

Example

var check = require('validator').check,
    sanitize = require('validator').sanitize

//Validate
check('test@email.com').len(6, 64).isEmail();        //Methods are chainable
check('abc').isInt();                                //Throws 'Invalid integer'
check('abc', 'Please enter a number').isInt();       //Throws 'Please enter a number'
check('abcdefghijklmnopzrtsuvqxyz').is(/^[a-z]+$/);

//Sanitize / Filter
var int = sanitize('0123').toInt();                  //123
var bool = sanitize('true').toBoolean();             //true
var str = sanitize(' \t\r hello \n').trim();       //'hello'
var str = sanitize('aaaaaaaaab').ltrim('a');         //'b'
var str = sanitize(large_input_str).xss();
var str = sanitize('&lt;a&gt;').entityDecode();      //'<a>'

Web development

Often it's more desirable to check or automatically sanitize parameters by name (rather than the actual string). See this gist for instructions on binding the library to the request prototype.

If you are using the express.js framework you can use the express-validator middleware to seamlessly integrate node-validator.

Example http://localhost:8080/?zip=12345&foo=1&textarea=large_string

get('/', function (req, res) {
    req.onValidationError(function (msg) {
        //Redirect the user with error 'msg'
    });

    //Validate user input
    req.check('zip', 'Please enter a valid ZIP code').len(4,5).isInt();
    req.check('email', 'Please enter a valid email').len(6,64).isEmail();
    req.checkHeader('referer').contains('localhost');

    //Sanitize user input
    req.sanitize('textarea').xss();
    req.sanitize('foo').toBoolean();

    //etc.
});

List of validation methods

is()                            //Alias for regex()
not()                           //Alias for notRegex()
isEmail()
isUrl()                         //Accepts http, https, ftp
isIP()
isAlpha()
isAlphanumeric()
isNumeric()
isHexadecimal()
isHexColor()                    //Accepts valid hexcolors with or without # prefix
isInt()                         //isNumeric accepts zero padded numbers, e.g. '001', isInt doesn't
isLowercase()
isUppercase()
isDecimal()
isFloat()                       //Alias for isDecimal
notNull()
isNull()
notEmpty()                      //i.e. not just whitespace
equals(equals)
contains(str)
notContains(str)
regex(pattern, modifiers)       //Usage: regex(/[a-z]/i) or regex('[a-z]','i')
notRegex(pattern, modifiers)
len(min, max)                   //max is optional
isUUID(version)                 //Version can be 3 or 4 or empty, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier
isDate()                        //Uses Date.parse() - regex is probably a better choice
isAfter(date)                   //Argument is optional and defaults to today. Comparison is non-inclusive
isBefore(date)                  //Argument is optional and defaults to today. Comparison is non-inclusive
isIn(options)                   //Accepts an array or string
notIn(options)
max(val)
min(val)
isArray()
isCreditCard()                  //Will work against Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, and JCB card numbering formats

List of sanitization / filter methods

trim(chars)                     //Trim optional `chars`, default is to trim whitespace (\r\n\t )
ltrim(chars)
rtrim(chars)
ifNull(replace)
toFloat()
toInt()
toBoolean()                     //True unless str = '0', 'false', or str.length == 0
toBooleanStrict()               //False unless str = '1' or 'true'
entityDecode()                  //Decode HTML entities
entityEncode()
escape()                        //Escape &, <, >, and "
xss()                           //Remove common XSS attack vectors from user-supplied HTML
xss(true)                       //Remove common XSS attack vectors from images

Extending the library

When adding to the Validator prototype, use this.str to access the string and this.error(this.msg || default_msg) when the string is invalid

var Validator = require('validator').Validator;
Validator.prototype.contains = function(str) {
    if (!~this.str.indexOf(str)) {
        this.error(this.msg || this.str + ' does not contain ' + str);
    }
    return this; //Allow method chaining
}

When adding to the Filter (sanitize) prototype, use this.str to access the string and this.modify(new_str) to update it

var Filter = require('validator').Filter;
Filter.prototype.removeNumbers = function() {
    this.modify(this.str.replace(/[0-9]+/g, ''));
    return this.str;
}

Error handling

By default, the validation methods throw an exception when a check fails

try {
    check('abc').notNull().isInt()
} catch (e) {
    console.log(e.message); //Invalid integer
}

To set a custom error message, set the second param of check()

try {
    check('abc', 'Please enter a valid integer').notNull().isInt()
} catch (e) {
    console.log(e.message); //Please enter a valid integer
}

To attach a custom error handler, set the error method of the validator instance

var Validator = require('validator').Validator;
var v = new Validator();
v.error = function(msg) {
    console.log('Fail');
}
v.check('abc').isInt(); //'Fail'

You might want to collect errors instead of throwing each time

Validator.prototype.error = function (msg) {
    this._errors.push(msg);
    return this;
}

Validator.prototype.getErrors = function () {
    return this._errors;
}

var validator = new Validator();

validator.check('abc').isEmail();
validator.check('hello').len(10,30);

var errors = validator.getErrors(); // ['Invalid email', 'String is too small']

Contributors

• PING - Fixed entity encoding
• Dan VerWeire - Modified the behaviour of the error handler
• ctavan - Added isArray and isUUID()
• foxbunny - Added min(), max(), isAfter(), isBefore(), and improved isDate()
• oris - Added in()
• mren - Decoupled rules