This command line HTTP client tool is really nice

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cURL believe that many do development, operation and maintenance are not familiar, is a very useful tool terminal request, it can be carried out by means of the command line HTTP , the FTP and other requests, in Linux system The application is very wide. However, it currently has a flaw, the syntax is complex, and it is very difficult to get started. It does not even directly support the JSON parameter request. guy recently discovered another similar tool , a very simple HTTP command line client, even a bit cool.

httpie

httpie is written with Python , the supported operating system is very comprehensive, and it is very fast to get started. According to the official description, its main features are:

• Simple syntax
• Support for formatted output and color styles
• Windows , Linux , MacOS are supported
• Supports both HTTP and HTTPS
• Support file upload
• Support persistent session retention
• Built-in JSON support, support similar to Wget download
• Plugin support

VS cURL

Since it is used to benchmark cURL , let's visually see the difference between them

For the same request, cURL more parameter items and cannot be understood intuitively, while httpie more user-friendly.

Install

Four installation methods are introduced here.

PyPI

platform, as long as there is a 161f24a0897d5c Python3.7+ environment.

# 安装
pip install httpie

Windows

Install it with Chocolatey, the package manager recommended by Fat Brother.

# 安装
choco install httpie
# 升级版本
choco upgrade httpie

MacOS

There should be no developers on Apple who do not install Homebrew , right?

brew update
# 安装
brew install httpie
# 升级版本
brew upgrade httpie

Linux

Linux can be more, we commonly used Debian series, such as Ubuntu

apt update
# 安装
apt install httpie
# 升级版本
apt upgrade httpie

If it is a Red Hat system, it is natural to use yum :

yum install epel-release
# 安装
yum install httpie
# 升级版本
yum upgrade httpie

Of course, Fedora may also be used by some people dnf command, I am not sure.

usage

httpie usage is very simple, so simple that I am too lazy to write detailed instructions, but I still have to write it. Let's try Hello World first:

The format of the httpie

https|http [flags] [METHOD] URL [ITEM [ITEM]]

For details, please http --help for details.

request method

httpie request method (http method) is optional, httpie on their own judgment.

http pie.dev/get

unless you explicitly state:

http POST pie.dev/get

And the following method will be considered a POST request:

http pie.dev/post hello=world

Because hello=world will be considered as the request body. GET do you think it is 061f24a0897f8e?

does not work even if explicitly declared as GET ! **The correct way is to replace = == .

query string parameters

Why replace = == ?

https://api.github.com/search/repositories?q=httpie&per_page=1

The above is a standard API format. In httpie, ? and & are replaced by spaces, and the parameters do not need URL escape. The query parameter key-value pair uses == ; the request body parameter key-value pair uses = . becomes:

http https://api.github.com/search/repositories q==httpie per_page==1

Fixed parameter with file

Some configuration items, such as JWT Token, are old and old, and what should I do if I want to reuse them? Write to the file, and then use the @ symbol plus the path to reference the value in the file:

http POST pie.dev/post \
    Authentication:@files/jwt.txt      # 从文件里读取请求头
    token==@files/text.txt             # 从文件读取query参数  
    name=@files/text.txt               # 请求体参数
    bookmarks:=@files/data.json        # 从文件中嵌入请求体json数据

In this way, I think that some configurations are made dynamic, and the value in the file can be changed.

: request headers.

JSON

Use --json, -j explicitly set the request Accept to application/json . At this time, the key-value pair connected by = json .

http -j PUT pie.dev/put name=felord age=18   

Verify it:

-v is --verbose and can print request details.

If you do not use -j , you need to use := to separate the key-value pair, and add @ if there is a file reference.

http PUT pie.dev/put \
    name=John \                        # String (default)
    age:=29 \                          # Raw JSON — Number
    married:=false \                   # Raw JSON — Boolean
    hobbies:='["http", "pies"]' \      # Raw JSON — Array
    favorite:='{"tool": "HTTPie"}' \   # Raw JSON — Object
    bookmarks:=@files/data.json \      # Embed JSON file
    description=@files/text.txt        # Embed text file

The actual request body JSON is:

{
    "age": 29,
    "bookmarks": {
        "httpie": {
            "says": "Hello, World!"
        }
    },
    "description": "Hello, World!\n",
    "favorite": {
        "tool": "HTTPie"
    },
    "hobbies": [
        "http",
        "pies"
    ],
    "married": false,
    "name": "John"
}

At this time, = and := are the same.

nested

The nested format is also easy to understand. I don't think it needs to be described too much, just look at the picture below to understand.

some tricks

You only need the following way to quickly request

# https://baidu.com
https ://baidu.com

If it is localhost , it can be simplified to:

# https://localhost:8080/yourapi
https :8080/yourapi

Upload Download:

http POST example.com/upload < ~/upload.pdf
http GET example.com/download.pdf > ~/download.pdf
# form 上传
http -f POST example.com/form-with-file  myUpload@~/example.pdf

in addition

In addition, there are advanced gameplays such as agents and plug-ins, which are very playable and need to be explored by themselves. Based on the space, I will not repeat them. httpie actually has a UI client, but it is currently in the beta testing stage, and applications are not open.

: Felordcn for more information

personal blog: https://felord.cn