HTTP Requests

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This guide covers how to make various types of HTTP requests using dotnet-httpie.

HTTP Methods

dotnet-httpie supports all standard HTTP methods. If no method is specified, GET is used by default.

GET Requests

# Simple GET
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get

# GET with query parameters
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get name==John age==30

# GET with headers
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get Authorization:"Bearer token"

POST Requests

# JSON POST request
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post name=John email=john@example.com

# Form data POST request  
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --form name=John email=john@example.com

# Raw data POST request
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --raw "Custom raw data"

PUT Requests

# Update resource
dotnet-http PUT api.example.com/users/123 name="John Smith" email="john.smith@example.com"

# Replace entire resource
dotnet-http PUT api.example.com/users/123 @user.json

PATCH Requests

# Partial update
dotnet-http PATCH api.example.com/users/123 email="newemail@example.com"

DELETE Requests

# Delete resource
dotnet-http DELETE api.example.com/users/123

# Delete with confirmation header
dotnet-http DELETE api.example.com/users/123 X-Confirm:"yes"

HEAD Requests

# Get headers only
dotnet-http HEAD httpbin.org/get

OPTIONS Requests

# Check allowed methods
dotnet-http OPTIONS api.example.com/users

Request URLs

Full URLs

dotnet-http https://api.example.com/users
dotnet-http http://localhost:3000/api/data

Shortened Local URLs

# These are equivalent to http://localhost:PORT
dotnet-http :3000/api/users
dotnet-http localhost:3000/api/users

URL with Parameters

# Query parameters are added automatically
dotnet-http api.example.com/search q==httpie type==tool
# Results in: api.example.com/search?q=httpie&type=tool

Request Headers

Standard Headers

# Authorization
dotnet-http api.example.com/protected Authorization:"Bearer jwt-token"

# Content-Type
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data Content-Type:"application/xml" @data.xml

# User-Agent
dotnet-http api.example.com/get User-Agent:"MyApp/1.0"

# Accept
dotnet-http api.example.com/data Accept:"application/json"

Custom Headers

# API keys
dotnet-http api.example.com/data X-API-Key:"your-api-key"

# Custom headers
dotnet-http api.example.com/data X-Custom-Header:"custom-value"

Multiple Headers

dotnet-http api.example.com/data \
  Authorization:"Bearer token" \
  X-API-Key:"api-key" \
  User-Agent:"MyApp/1.0" \
  Accept:"application/json"

Request Body

JSON Body (Default)

# Simple JSON
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John age:=30 active:=true

# Nested JSON
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John address[city]=Seattle address[country]=USA

# Array values
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John tags:='["developer", "dotnet"]'

# Raw JSON objects
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users profile:='{"name": "John", "age": 30}'

Form Data

# URL-encoded form data
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --form name=John email=john@example.com

Raw Data

# Send raw string
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/webhook --raw "Raw webhook payload"

# Send from stdin
echo "data" | dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data

Complex JSON Structures

Nested Objects

dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users \
  name=John \
  address[street]="123 Main St" \
  address[city]=Seattle \
  address[zipcode]:=98101

Arrays

# Array of strings
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John skills:='["C#", "JavaScript", "Python"]'

# Array of numbers
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data values:='[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]'

# Array of objects
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/batch items:='[{"id": 1, "name": "Item 1"}, {"id": 2, "name": "Item 2"}]'

Boolean and Null Values

# Boolean values
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John active:=true verified:=false

# Null values
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John middle_name:=null

# Numbers
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John age:=30 salary:=50000.50

Response Handling

View Full Response

# Default: shows headers and body
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get

Body Only

# Show only response body
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get --body

Headers Only

# Show only response headers
dotnet-http HEAD httpbin.org/get

Save Response

# Save to file
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get > response.json

# Download files
dotnet-http httpbin.org/image/png --download

Error Handling

HTTP Error Codes

# dotnet-httpie shows HTTP errors clearly
dotnet-http httpbin.org/status/404
dotnet-http httpbin.org/status/500

Timeout Configuration

# Set request timeout (if supported by middleware)
dotnet-http api.example.com/slow-endpoint --timeout 30

Advanced Features

Follow Redirects

# Automatically follow redirects
dotnet-http httpbin.org/redirect/3 --follow

Ignore SSL Errors

# For development/testing only
dotnet-http https://self-signed.badssl.com/ --verify=no

Proxy Support

# Use proxy
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get --proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080

Examples with Real APIs

GitHub API

# Get user info
dotnet-http api.github.com/users/octocat

# Get repositories (with authentication)
dotnet-http api.github.com/user/repos Authorization:"token your-token"

# Create issue
dotnet-http POST api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/issues \
  Authorization:"token your-token" \
  title="Bug report" \
  body="Description of the bug"

REST API CRUD Operations

# Create
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/articles \
  title="My Article" \
  content="Article content" \
  published:=false

# Read
dotnet-http GET api.example.com/articles/123

# Update
dotnet-http PUT api.example.com/articles/123 \
  title="Updated Article" \
  published:=true

# Delete
dotnet-http DELETE api.example.com/articles/123

Best Practices

  1. Use meaningful names for your request files and variables
  2. Store sensitive data like API keys in environment variables
  3. Use --offline mode to preview requests before sending
  4. Combine with jq for JSON processing: dotnet-http api.example.com/data | jq .
  5. Use files for complex data instead of inline JSON for better maintainability

Next Steps