HTTP Client

HTTP Client is a command-line tool for executing HTTP requests. It supports various HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, OPTIONS, and HEAD.

Screenshots:

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/hrtsegv/http-client.git

2. Build the project:

   cd http-client
   go build

Usage

The general format of the command is:

./http-client -m [HTTP_Method] -u [URL] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
-m, --http-method	HTTP method: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS (required)
-u, --url	Request URL (required). A missing scheme defaults to https://
-b, --body	Request body: raw text/JSON, @path to read from a file, or - to read from stdin
-d, --data	Body field as key=value, repeatable; builds a JSON object
--form	Body field as key=value, repeatable; sends application/x-www-form-urlencoded
-F, --multipart	Multipart field as key=value, or key=@path to upload a file, repeatable; sends multipart/form-data and streams the file
--query	Query parameter as key=value, repeatable; merged into the URL and encoded
-H, --header	Request header as Key: Value or JSON, repeatable
-o, --output	Write the response body to this file instead of printing it
-a, --auth	Basic auth credentials as user:pass
--timeout	Request timeout (default 30s)
--retry	Retry transient failures (network errors, 429, 5xx) up to this many times
--retry-delay	Base delay before a retry (default 500ms); doubles each attempt, and Retry-After wins when present
-k, --insecure	Skip TLS certificate verification
--proxy	Send the request through this proxy, e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080
--no-redirect	Do not follow redirects
-f, --fail	Exit with a non-zero status code on HTTP error responses (status >= 400)
-i, --include	Include the response status line and headers in the output, before the body
-v, --verbose	Print the outgoing request and response headers to stderr
--raw	Write the body verbatim: no JSON formatting, no binary-output guard
--no-color	Disable colored output (also auto-disabled when stdout isn't a terminal, and honors the NO_COLOR env var)
--version	Print the version and exit
--help	Print a full, up-to-date usage message and exit

Only one of --body, --data, --form, or --multipart may be given — each implies a different encoding.

Output

stdout carries the response body and nothing else; the status line, save notices, retry notices, and -v diagnostics all go to stderr. That means the body pipes cleanly:

  ./http-client -m GET -u https://api.example.com/users | jq '.[0].name'

When stdout is a terminal, a JSON body is pretty-printed with sorted keys, and a binary body is replaced by a one-line summary rather than scrambling the terminal. When stdout is redirected or piped, the body is passed through byte for byte, so parsers and files get exactly what the server sent. --raw forces that verbatim output anywhere.

Examples

1- Send an HTTP GET request:

  ./http-client -m GET --url http://example.com

2- Send an HTTP POST request with a JSON body:

  ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com -b '{"key1":"value1","key2":"value2"}'

3- Send an HTTP POST request with -d fields instead of hand-writing JSON:

  ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com -d key1=value1 -d key2=value2

4- Send an HTTP POST request with headers:

  ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer token" -b '{"key1":"value1"}'

5- Send a body from a file, or from stdin:

  ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com -b @payload.json
  cat payload.json | ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com -b -

6- Send an HTTP DELETE request:

  ./http-client -m DELETE -u http://example.com

7- Download to a file (streamed, so the size doesn't matter):

  ./http-client -m GET --url http://example.com/big.zip -o big.zip

8- Fail a script on HTTP errors, with basic auth and a short timeout:

  ./http-client -m GET -u http://example.com/protected -a user:pass -f --timeout 5s

9- Add query parameters without escaping them by hand:

  ./http-client -m GET -u http://example.com/search --query "q=blue suede shoes" --query page=2

10- Post a url-encoded form:

  ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com/login --form user=ada --form password=hunter2

11- Upload a file as multipart/form-data:

  ./http-client -m POST -u http://example.com/upload -F description="monthly export" -F data=@report.csv

12- Retry a flaky endpoint, showing the response headers:

  ./http-client -m GET -u http://example.com/flaky --retry 3 -i

13- Run the tool with --help to get a full, up-to-date usage message.

Development

go build ./...          # build
go test ./...            # run tests
go vet ./...              # static checks
golangci-lint run ./...   # lint (see .golangci.yml)

Contributions

Contributions are welcome! If you would like to contribute to this project, please follow these steps:

1- Fork the repository.

2- Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.

3- Make the necessary changes and commit them.

4- Push your changes to your fork.

5- Submit a pull request describing your changes.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.