option to parse/unparse from array of pairs handling ordering and duplicate keys or key values like URLSearchParams

Description

const nodeUrl = require('url');
const assert = require('assert');

function setQuery(url, key, value) {
  const u = new nodeUrl.URL(url);
  u.searchParams.set(key, value);
  return u.toString();
}

const result = setQuery('https://example.com?ham=spam&eggs=chips&eggs=chips&ham=spam', 'eggs', 'zap');
assert.equal(result, 'ham=spam&eggs=zap&ham=spam');

Contributor guide

Tech stack

javascript

Domain

backendtooling

Issue type

feature

DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.

3

Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.

half day

Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.

stale

ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.

mostly clear

Prerequisites

basic JavaScriptunderstanding of URL query stringsfamiliarity with URLSearchParams

Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.

35

Research direction

The issue requests a new option to parse/unparse from array of pairs while preserving order and duplicate keys, similar to URLSearchParams. The maintainer has not responded. To implement, study the current qs API in lib/parse.js and lib/stringify.js, and consider adding a mode that preserves insertion order and allows duplicate keys. Look at how URLSearchParams handles these features for reference.