ability to fetch file:// URLs in node fetch.

[trusktr]

What is the problem this feature will solve?

This makes working with standards easier on the server side. Currently, API such as import.meta.url return a file protocol URL. F.e. file:///path/to/foo.js.

Considering that import standard causes Node.js to return file:// URLs, it is easy to want to do this:

import fs from 'fs'
const relative = path => new URL(path, import.meta.url).href
const path = relative('../some/relative/file.txt')
fs.readFileSync(path) // ---------> ERROR!
// or
await fetch(path) // ----------> ERROR!

When not on the web (f.e. in Node.js, not supporting file:// for security reasons seems to be moot, see node-fetch/node-fetch#75).

What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

It would make people's lives easier if they could simply follow standards in Node.js in a way similar to browser code, and the following would just work:

const path = new URL('../some/relative/file.txt', import.meta.url).href
const text  = await fetch(path).then(r => r.text()) // Should just work.

What alternatives have you considered?

n/a

[bnoordhuis]

See #45798 (of which this issue is basically a duplicate although you're forgiven for not finding it with github's terrible search) and this #45798 (comment) in particular.

To summarize: the interaction between fetch() and file:// urls is currently underspecced and therefore difficult to implement safely and in a way where we don't paint ourselves in a corner later on.

[Artoria2e5]

The more spec, though admittedly more roundabout way is to go through a blob: URI. See #45188 (comment)