How to send string encoded in utf8mb4_unicode_ci in JSON from PHP to Node.js ?

PHP side

The PHP function json_encode() only accept utf8 strings. The string must be escaped before converted to json:

$str = "éèàö 😀 😎";
myJson = json_encode(utf8_encode($str));

The above code produces the following output:

"\u00c3\u00a9\u00c3\u00a8\u00c3\u00a0\u00c3\u00b6 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0080 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u008e"

Node.js side

On Node.js side, install the utf8 package:

npm install utf8

Decode the string with utf8.decode(str):

const utf8 = require('utf8');

str = "\u00c3\u00a9\u00c3\u00a8\u00c3\u00a0\u00c3\u00b6 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0080 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u008e";
console.log(utf8.decode(str));

The above code displays the original string:

éèàö 😀 😎

PHP side

The PHP function json_encode() only accept utf8 strings. The string must be escaped before converted to json:

$str = "éèàö 😀 😎";
myJson = json_encode(utf8_encode($str));

The above code produces the following output:

"\u00c3\u00a9\u00c3\u00a8\u00c3\u00a0\u00c3\u00b6 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0080 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u008e"

Node.js side

On Node.js side, install the utf8 package:

npm install utf8

Decode the string with utf8.decode(str):

const utf8 = require('utf8');

str = "\u00c3\u00a9\u00c3\u00a8\u00c3\u00a0\u00c3\u00b6 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0080 \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u008e";
console.log(utf8.decode(str));

The above code displays the original string:

éèàö 😀 😎