httpie-cli/README.rst

HTTPie: human-friendly CLI HTTP client for the API era
######################################################

HTTPie (pronounced *aitch-tee-tee-pie*) is a command-line HTTP client.
Its goal is to make CLI interaction with web services as human-friendly as possible.
HTTPie is designed for testing, debugging, and generally interacting with APIs & HTTP servers.
The ``http`` & ``https`` commands allow for creating and sending arbitrary HTTP requests.
They use simple and natural syntax and provide formatted and colorized output.



.. class:: no-web no-pdf

    |docs| |pypi| |build| |coverage| |downloads| |gitter|


.. class:: no-web no-pdf

    .. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/httpie/httpie/master/httpie.gif
        :alt: HTTPie in action
        :width: 100%
        :align: center


.. contents::

.. section-numbering::


About this document
===================

This documentation is best viewed at `httpie.org/docs <https://httpie.org/docs>`_.

You can select your corresponding HTTPie version as well as run examples directly from the
browser using a `termible.io <https://termible.io?utm_source=httpie-readme>`_ embedded terminal.

If you are reading this on GitHub, then this text covers the current *development* version.
You are invited to submit fixes and improvements to the the docs by editing
`README.rst <https://github.com/httpie/httpie/blob/master/README.rst>`_.


Main features
=============

* Expressive and intuitive syntax
* Formatted and colorized terminal output
* Built-in JSON support
* Forms and file uploads
* HTTPS, proxies, and authentication
* Arbitrary request data
* Custom headers
* Persistent sessions
* Wget-like downloads
* Linux, macOS and Windows support
* Plugins
* Documentation
* Test coverage


.. class:: no-web

    .. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/httpie/httpie/master/httpie.png
        :alt: HTTPie compared to cURL
        :width: 100%
        :align: center


Installation
============


macOS
-----


On macOS, HTTPie can be installed via `Homebrew <https://brew.sh/>`_
(recommended):

.. code-block:: bash

    $ brew install httpie


A MacPorts *port* is also available:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ port install httpie

Linux
-----

Most Linux distributions provide a package that can be installed using the
system package manager, for example:

.. code-block:: bash

    # Debian, Ubuntu, etc.
    $ apt install httpie

.. code-block:: bash

    # Fedora
    $ dnf install httpie

.. code-block:: bash

    # CentOS, RHEL, ...
    $ yum install httpie

.. code-block:: bash

    # Gentoo
    $ emerge httpie

.. code-block:: bash

    # Arch Linux
    $ pacman -S httpie

.. code-block:: bash

    # Solus
    $ eopkg install httpie


Windows, etc.
-------------

A universal installation method (that works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, …,
and always provides the latest version) is to use `pip`_:


.. code-block:: bash

    # Make sure we have an up-to-date version of pip and setuptools:
    $ python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools

    $ python -m pip install --upgrade httpie


(If ``pip`` installation fails for some reason, you can try
``easy_install httpie`` as a fallback.)

Windows users can also install HTTPie with `Chocolatey <https://chocolatey.org>`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ choco install httpie


Python version
--------------

Python version 3.6 or greater is required.


Unstable version
----------------

You can also install the latest unreleased development version directly from
the ``master`` branch on GitHub.  It is a work-in-progress of a future stable
release so the experience might be not as smooth.


.. class:: no-pdf

|build|


On macOS you can install it with Homebrew:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ brew uninstall --force httpie
    $ brew install --HEAD httpie


Otherwise with ``pip``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ python -m pip install --upgrade https://github.com/httpie/httpie/archive/master.tar.gz


Verify that now we have the
`current development version identifier <https://github.com/httpie/httpie/blob/master/httpie/__init__.py#L6>`_
with the ``-dev`` suffix, for example:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --version
    # 2.0.0-dev


Usage
=====


Hello World:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ https httpie.io/hello


Synopsis:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http [flags] [METHOD] URL [ITEM [ITEM]]


See also ``http --help``.


Examples
--------

Custom `HTTP method`_, `HTTP headers`_ and `JSON`_ data:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http PUT pie.dev/put X-API-Token:123 name=John


Submitting `forms`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -f POST pie.dev/post hello=World


See the request that is being sent using one of the `output options`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -v pie.dev/get


Build and print a request without sending it using `offline mode`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --offline pie.dev/post hello=offline


Use `GitHub API`_ to post a comment on an
`issue <https://github.com/httpie/httpie/issues/83>`_
with `authentication`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -a USERNAME POST https://api.github.com/repos/httpie/httpie/issues/83/comments body='HTTPie is awesome! :heart:'


Upload a file using `redirected input`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/post < files/data.json


Download a file and save it via `redirected output`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/image/png > image.png


Download a file ``wget`` style:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --download pie.dev/image/png

Use named `sessions`_ to make certain aspects of the communication persistent
between requests to the same host:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=logged-in -a username:password pie.dev/get API-Key:123


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=logged-in pie.dev/headers


Set a custom ``Host`` header to work around missing DNS records:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http localhost:8000 Host:example.com

..


HTTP method
===========

The name of the HTTP method comes right before the URL argument:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http DELETE pie.dev/delete


Which looks similar to the actual ``Request-Line`` that is sent:

.. code-block:: http

    DELETE /delete HTTP/1.1


When the ``METHOD`` argument is omitted from the command, HTTPie defaults to
either ``GET`` (with no request data) or ``POST`` (with request data).


Request URL
===========

The only information HTTPie needs to perform a request is a URL.

The default scheme is ``http://`` and can be omitted from the argument:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http example.org
    # => http://example.org


HTTPie also installs an ``https`` executable, where the default
scheme is ``https://``:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ https example.org
    # => https://example.org


Querystring parameters
----------------------

If you find yourself manually constructing URLs with querystring parameters
on the terminal, you may appreciate the ``param==value`` syntax for appending
URL parameters.

With that, you don’t have to worry about escaping the ``&``
separators for your shell. Additionally, any special characters in the
parameter name or value get automatically URL-escaped
(as opposed to parameters specified in the full URL, which HTTPie doesn’t
modify).

.. code-block:: bash

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


.. code-block:: http

    GET /search/repositories?q=httpie&per_page=1 HTTP/1.1



URL shortcuts for ``localhost``
-------------------------------

Additionally, curl-like shorthand for localhost is supported.
This means that, for example ``:3000`` would expand to ``http://localhost:3000``
If the port is omitted, then port 80 is assumed.

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http :/foo


.. code-block:: http

    GET /foo HTTP/1.1
    Host: localhost


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http :3000/bar


.. code-block:: http

    GET /bar HTTP/1.1
    Host: localhost:3000


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http :


.. code-block:: http

    GET / HTTP/1.1
    Host: localhost


Other default schemes
---------------------

When HTTPie is invoked as ``https`` then the default scheme is ``https://``
(``$ https example.org`` will make a request to ``https://example.org``).

You can also use the ``--default-scheme <URL_SCHEME>`` option to create
shortcuts for other protocols than HTTP (possibly supported via plugins).
Example for the `httpie-unixsocket <https://github.com/httpie/httpie-unixsocket>`_ plugin:

.. code-block:: bash

    # Before
    $ http http+unix://%2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/info


.. code-block:: bash

    # Create an alias
    $ alias http-unix='http --default-scheme="http+unix"'


.. code-block:: bash

    # Now the scheme can be omitted
    $ http-unix %2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/info


``--path-as-is``
----------------

The standard behaviour of HTTP clients is to normalize the path portion of URLs by squashing dot segments
as a typically filesystem would:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -v example.org/./../../etc/password

.. code-block:: http

    GET /etc/password HTTP/1.1


The ``--path-as-is`` option allows you to disable this behavior:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --path-as-is -v example.org/./../../etc/password

.. code-block:: http

    GET /../../etc/password HTTP/1.1


Request items
=============

There are a few different *request item* types that provide a
convenient mechanism for specifying HTTP headers, simple JSON and
form data, files, and URL parameters.

They are key/value pairs specified after the URL. All have in
common that they become part of the actual request that is sent and that
their type is distinguished only by the separator used:
``:``, ``=``, ``:=``, ``==``, ``@``, ``=@``, and ``:=@``. The ones with an
``@`` expect a file path as value.

+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Item Type                    | Description                                       |
+==============================+===================================================+
| HTTP Headers                 | Arbitrary HTTP header, e.g. ``X-API-Token:123``.  |
| ``Name:Value``               |                                                   |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| URL parameters               | Appends the given name/value pair as a query      |
| ``name==value``              | string parameter to the URL.                      |
|                              | The ``==`` separator is used.                     |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Data Fields                  | Request data fields to be serialized as a JSON    |
| ``field=value``,             | object (default), to be form-encoded              |
| ``field=@file.txt``          | (with ``--form, -f``), or to be serialized as     |
|                              | ``multipart/form-data`` (with ``--multipart``).   |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Raw JSON fields              | Useful when sending JSON and one or               |
| ``field:=json``,             | more fields need to be a ``Boolean``, ``Number``, |
| ``field:=@file.json``        | nested ``Object``, or an ``Array``,  e.g.,        |
|                              | ``meals:='["ham","spam"]'`` or ``pies:=[1,2,3]``  |
|                              | (note the quotes).                                |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Fields upload fields         | Only available with ``--form, -f`` and            |
| ``field@/dir/file``          | ``--multipart``.                                  |
| ``field@file;type=mime``     | For example ``screenshot@~/Pictures/img.png``, or |
|                              | ``'cv@cv.txt;type=text/markdown'``.               |
|                              | With ``--form``, the presence of a file field     |
|                              | results in a ``--multipart`` request.             |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+


Note that the structured data fields aren’t the only way to specify request data:
The `raw request body`_ section describes mechanisms for passing arbitrary request data.


Escaping rules
--------------

You can use ``\`` to escape characters that shouldn’t be used as separators
(or parts thereof). For instance, ``foo\==bar`` will become a data key/value
pair (``foo=`` and ``bar``) instead of a URL parameter.

Often it is necessary to quote the values, e.g. ``foo='bar baz'``.

If any of the field names or headers starts with a minus
(e.g., ``-fieldname``), you need to place all such items after the special
token ``--`` to prevent confusion with ``--arguments``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/post  --  -name-starting-with-dash=foo -Unusual-Header:bar

.. code-block:: http

    POST /post HTTP/1.1
    -Unusual-Header: bar
    Content-Type: application/json

    {
        "-name-starting-with-dash": "foo"
    }



JSON
====

JSON is the *lingua franca* of modern web services and it is also the
**implicit content type** HTTPie uses by default.


Simple example:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http PUT pie.dev/put name=John email=john@example.org

.. code-block:: http

    PUT / HTTP/1.1
    Accept: application/json, */*;q=0.5
    Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
    Content-Type: application/json
    Host: pie.dev

    {
        "name": "John",
        "email": "john@example.org"
    }


Default behaviour
-----------------


If your command includes some data `request items`_, they are serialized as a JSON
object by default. HTTPie also automatically sets the following headers,
both of which can be overwritten:

================    =======================================
``Content-Type``    ``application/json``
``Accept``          ``application/json, */*;q=0.5``
================    =======================================


Explicit JSON
-------------

You can use ``--json, -j`` to explicitly set ``Accept``
to ``application/json`` regardless of whether you are sending data
(it’s a shortcut for setting the header via the usual header notation:
``http url Accept:'application/json, */*;q=0.5'``). Additionally,
HTTPie will try to detect JSON responses even when the
``Content-Type`` is incorrectly ``text/plain`` or unknown.



Non-string JSON fields
----------------------

Non-string JSON fields use the ``:=`` separator, which allows you to embed arbitrary JSON data
into the resulting JSON object. Additionally, text and raw JSON files can also be embedded into
fields using ``=@`` and ``:=@``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ 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


.. code-block:: http

    PUT /person/1 HTTP/1.1
    Accept: application/json, */*;q=0.5
    Content-Type: application/json
    Host: pie.dev

    {
        "age": 29,
        "hobbies": [
            "http",
            "pies"
        ],
        "description": "John is a nice guy who likes pies.",
        "married": false,
        "name": "John",
        "favorite": {
            "tool": "HTTPie"
        },
        "bookmarks": {
            "HTTPie": "https://httpie.org",
        }
    }


Raw and complex JSON
--------------------

Please note that with the structured `request items`_ data field syntax, commands
can quickly become unwieldy when sending complex structures.
In such cases, it’s better to pass the full raw JSON data as a `raw request body`_, for example:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ echo '{"hello": "world"}' | http POST pie.dev/post

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --raw '{"hello": "world"}' POST pie.dev/post

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http POST pie.dev/post < files/data.json

Furthermore, the structure syntax only allows you to send an object as the JSON document, but not an array, etc.
Here, again, the solution is to use a `raw request body`_.

Forms
=====

Submitting forms is very similar to sending `JSON`_ requests. Often the only
difference is in adding the ``--form, -f`` option, which ensures that
data fields are serialized as, and ``Content-Type`` is set to,
``application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=utf-8``. It is possible to make
form data the implicit content type instead of JSON
via the `config`_ file.


Regular forms
-------------

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --form POST pie.dev/post name='John Smith'


.. code-block:: http

    POST /post HTTP/1.1
    Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=utf-8

    name=John+Smith


File upload forms
-----------------

If one or more file fields is present, the serialization and content type is
``multipart/form-data``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -f POST pie.dev/post name='John Smith' cv@~/files/data.xml


The request above is the same as if the following HTML form were
submitted:

.. code-block:: html

    <form enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" action="http://example.com/jobs">
        <input type="text" name="name" />
        <input type="file" name="cv" />
    </form>

Please note that ``@`` is used to simulate a file upload form field, whereas
``=@`` just embeds the file content as a regular text field value.

When uploading files, their content type is inferred from the file name. You can manually
override the inferred content type:

.. code-block:: bash

   $ http -f POST pie.dev/post name='John Smith' cv@'~/files/data.bin;type=application/pdf'

To perform a ``multipart/form-data`` request even without any files, use
``--multipart`` instead of ``--form``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --multipart --offline example.org hello=world

.. code-block:: http

    POST / HTTP/1.1
    Content-Length: 129
    Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb
    Host: example.org

    --c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb
    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="hello"

    world
    --c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb--

File uploads are always streamed to avoid memory issues with large files.

By default, HTTPie uses a random unique string as the multipart boundary
but you can use ``--boundary`` to specify a custom string instead:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --form --multipart --boundary=xoxo --offline example.org hello=world

.. code-block:: http

    POST / HTTP/1.1
    Content-Length: 129
    Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=xoxo
    Host: example.org

    --xoxo
    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="hello"

    world
    --xoxo--

If you specify a custom ``Content-Type`` header without including the boundary
bit, HTTPie will add the boundary value (explicitly specified or auto-generated)
to the header automatically:


.. code-block:: bash

    http --form --multipart --offline example.org hello=world Content-Type:multipart/letter

.. code-block:: http

    POST / HTTP/1.1
    Content-Length: 129
    Content-Type: multipart/letter; boundary=c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb
    Host: example.org

    --c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb
    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="hello"

    world
    --c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb--


HTTP headers
============

To set custom headers you can use the ``Header:Value`` notation:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/headers  User-Agent:Bacon/1.0  'Cookie:valued-visitor=yes;foo=bar'  \
        X-Foo:Bar  Referer:https://httpie.org/


.. code-block:: http

    GET /headers HTTP/1.1
    Accept: */*
    Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
    Cookie: valued-visitor=yes;foo=bar
    Host: pie.dev
    Referer: https://httpie.org/
    User-Agent: Bacon/1.0
    X-Foo: Bar


Default request headers
-----------------------

There are a couple of default headers that HTTPie sets:

.. code-block:: http

    GET / HTTP/1.1
    Accept: */*
    Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
    User-Agent: HTTPie/<version>
    Host: <taken-from-URL>



Any of these can be overwritten and some of them unset (see below).



Empty headers and header un-setting
-----------------------------------

To unset a previously specified header
(such a one of the default headers), use ``Header:``:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/headers Accept: User-Agent:


To send a header with an empty value, use ``Header;``:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/headers 'Header;'


Limiting response headers
-------------------------

The ``--max-headers=n`` options allows you to control the number of headers
HTTPie reads before giving up (the default ``0``, i.e., there’s no limit).


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --max-headers=100 pie.dev/get



Offline mode
============

Use ``--offline`` to construct HTTP requests without sending them anywhere.
With ``--offline``, HTTPie builds a request based on the specified options and arguments, prints it to ``stdout``,
and then exits. It works completely offline; no network connection is ever made.
This has a number of use cases, including:


Generating API documentation examples that you can copy & paste without sending a request:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --offline POST server.chess/api/games API-Key:ZZZ w=magnus b=hikaru t=180 i=2


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --offline MOVE server.chess/api/games/123 API-Key:ZZZ p=b a=R1a3 t=77


Generating raw requests that can be sent with any other client:

.. code-block:: bash

    # 1. save a raw request to a file:
    $ http --offline POST pie.dev/post hello=world > request.http


.. code-block:: bash

    # 2. send it over the wire with, for example, the fantastic netcat tool:
    $ nc pie.dev 80 < request.http


You can also use the ``--offline`` mode for debugging and exploring HTTP and HTTPie, and for “dry runs”.

``--offline`` has the side-effect of automatically activating ``--print=HB``, i.e., both the request headers and the body
are printed. You can customize the output with the usual `output options`_, with the exception that there
is not response to be printed. You can use ``--offline`` in combination with all the other options (e.g., ``--session``).



Cookies
=======

HTTP clients send cookies to the server as regular `HTTP headers`_. That means,
HTTPie does not offer any special syntax for specifying cookies — the usual
``Header:Value`` notation is used:


Send a single cookie:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/cookies Cookie:sessionid=foo

.. code-block:: http

    GET / HTTP/1.1
    Accept: */*
    Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
    Connection: keep-alive
    Cookie: sessionid=foo
    Host: pie.dev
    User-Agent: HTTPie/0.9.9


Send multiple cookies
(note the header is quoted to prevent the shell from interpreting the ``;``):

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/cookies 'Cookie:sessionid=foo;another-cookie=bar'

.. code-block:: http

    GET / HTTP/1.1
    Accept: */*
    Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
    Connection: keep-alive
    Cookie: sessionid=foo;another-cookie=bar
    Host: pie.dev
    User-Agent: HTTPie/0.9.9


If you often deal with cookies in your requests, then chances are you’d appreciate
the `sessions`_ feature.


Authentication
==============

The currently supported authentication schemes are Basic and Digest
(see `auth plugins`_ for more). There are two flags that control authentication:

===================     ======================================================
``--auth, -a``          Pass a ``username:password`` pair as
                        the argument. Or, if you only specify a username
                        (``-a username``), you’ll be prompted for
                        the password before the request is sent.
                        To send an empty password, pass ``username:``.
                        The ``username:password@hostname`` URL syntax is
                        supported as well (but credentials passed via ``-a``
                        have higher priority).

``--auth-type, -A``     Specify the auth mechanism. Possible values are
                        ``basic``, ``digest``, or the name of any `auth plugins`_ you have installed. The default value is
                        ``basic`` so it can often be omitted.
===================     ======================================================



Basic auth
----------


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -a username:password pie.dev/basic-auth/username/password


Digest auth
-----------


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -A digest -a username:password pie.dev/digest-auth/httpie/username/password


Password prompt
---------------

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -a username pie.dev/basic-auth/username/password


Empty password
--------------

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -a username: pie.dev/headers


``.netrc``
----------

Authentication information from your ``~/.netrc``
file is by default honored as well.

For example:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ cat ~/.netrc
    machine pie.dev
    login httpie
    password test

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/basic-auth/httpie/test
    HTTP/1.1 200 OK
    [...]

This can be disabled with the ``--ignore-netrc`` option:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --ignore-netrc pie.dev/basic-auth/httpie/test
    HTTP/1.1 401 UNAUTHORIZED
    [...]


Auth plugins
------------

Additional authentication mechanism can be installed as plugins.
They can be found on the `Python Package Index <https://pypi.python.org/pypi?%3Aaction=search&term=httpie&submit=search>`_.
Here’s a few picks:

* `httpie-api-auth <https://github.com/pd/httpie-api-auth>`_: ApiAuth
* `httpie-aws-auth <https://github.com/httpie/httpie-aws-auth>`_: AWS / Amazon S3
* `httpie-edgegrid <https://github.com/akamai-open/httpie-edgegrid>`_: EdgeGrid
* `httpie-hmac-auth <https://github.com/guardian/httpie-hmac-auth>`_: HMAC
* `httpie-jwt-auth <https://github.com/teracyhq/httpie-jwt-auth>`_: JWTAuth (JSON Web Tokens)
* `httpie-negotiate <https://github.com/ndzou/httpie-negotiate>`_: SPNEGO (GSS Negotiate)
* `httpie-ntlm <https://github.com/httpie/httpie-ntlm>`_: NTLM (NT LAN Manager)
* `httpie-oauth <https://github.com/httpie/httpie-oauth>`_: OAuth
* `requests-hawk <https://github.com/mozilla-services/requests-hawk>`_: Hawk




HTTP redirects
==============

By default, HTTP redirects are not followed and only the first
response is shown:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/redirect/3


Follow ``Location``
-------------------

To instruct HTTPie to follow the ``Location`` header of ``30x`` responses
and show the final response instead, use the ``--follow, -F`` option:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --follow pie.dev/redirect/3


With ``307 Temporary Redirect`` and ``308 Permanent Redirect``, the method and the body of the original request
are reused to perform the redirected request. Otherwise, a body-less ``GET`` request is performed.


Showing intermediary redirect responses
---------------------------------------

If you additionally wish to see the intermediary requests/responses,
then use the ``--all`` option as well:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --follow --all pie.dev/redirect/3



Limiting maximum redirects followed
-----------------------------------

To change the default limit of maximum ``30`` redirects, use the
``--max-redirects=<limit>`` option:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --follow --all --max-redirects=2 pie.dev/redirect/3


Proxies
=======

You can specify proxies to be used through the ``--proxy`` argument for each
protocol (which is included in the value in case of redirects across protocols):

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --proxy=http:http://10.10.1.10:3128 --proxy=https:https://10.10.1.10:1080 example.org


With Basic authentication:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --proxy=http:http://user:pass@10.10.1.10:3128 example.org


Environment variables
---------------------

You can also configure proxies by environment variables ``ALL_PROXY``,
``HTTP_PROXY`` and ``HTTPS_PROXY``, and the underlying Requests library will
pick them up as well. If you want to disable proxies configured through
the environment variables for certain hosts, you can specify them in ``NO_PROXY``.

In your ``~/.bash_profile``:

.. code-block:: bash

 export HTTP_PROXY=http://10.10.1.10:3128
 export HTTPS_PROXY=https://10.10.1.10:1080
 export NO_PROXY=localhost,example.com


SOCKS
-----

Usage is the same as for other types of `proxies`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --proxy=http:socks5://user:pass@host:port --proxy=https:socks5://user:pass@host:port example.org


HTTPS
=====


Server SSL certificate verification
-----------------------------------

To skip the host’s SSL certificate verification, you can pass ``--verify=no``
(default is ``yes``):

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --verify=no https://pie.dev/get


Custom CA bundle
----------------

You can also use ``--verify=<CA_BUNDLE_PATH>`` to set a custom CA bundle path:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --verify=/ssl/custom_ca_bundle https://example.org



Client side SSL certificate
---------------------------
To use a client side certificate for the SSL communication, you can pass
the path of the cert file with ``--cert``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --cert=client.pem https://example.org


If the private key is not contained in the cert file you may pass the
path of the key file with ``--cert-key``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --cert=client.crt --cert-key=client.key https://example.org


SSL version
-----------

Use the ``--ssl=<PROTOCOL>`` option to specify the desired protocol version to
use. This will default to SSL v2.3 which will negotiate the highest protocol
that both the server and your installation of OpenSSL support. The available
protocols are
``ssl2.3``, ``ssl3``, ``tls1``, ``tls1.1``, ``tls1.2``, ``tls1.3``.
(The actually available set of protocols may vary depending on your OpenSSL
installation.)

.. code-block:: bash

    # Specify the vulnerable SSL v3 protocol to talk to an outdated server:
    $ http --ssl=ssl3 https://vulnerable.example.org



SSL ciphers
-----------

You can specify the available ciphers with ``--ciphers``.
It should be a string in the
`OpenSSL cipher list format <https://www.openssl.org/docs/man1.1.0/man1/ciphers.html>`_.

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --ciphers=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256  https://pie.dev/get

Note: these cipher strings do not change the negotiated version of SSL or TLS,
they only affect the list of available cipher suites.

To see the default cipher string, run ``http --help`` and see
the ``--ciphers`` section under SSL.



Output options
==============

By default, HTTPie only outputs the final response and the whole response
message is printed (headers as well as the body). You can control what should
be printed via several options:

=================   =====================================================
``--headers, -h``   Only the response headers are printed.
``--body, -b``      Only the response body is printed.
``--verbose, -v``   Print the whole HTTP exchange (request and response).
                    This option also enables ``--all`` (see below).
``--print, -p``     Selects parts of the HTTP exchange.
``--quiet, -q``     Don't print anything to ``stdout`` and ``stderr``.
=================   =====================================================


What parts of the HTTP exchange should be printed
-------------------------------------------------

All the other `output options`_ are under the hood just shortcuts for
the more powerful ``--print, -p``. It accepts a string of characters each
of which represents a specific part of the HTTP exchange:

==========  ==================
Character   Stands for
==========  ==================
``H``       request headers
``B``       request body
``h``       response headers
``b``       response body
==========  ==================

Print request and response headers:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --print=Hh PUT pie.dev/put hello=world

Verbose output
--------------

``--verbose`` can often be useful for debugging the request and generating
documentation examples:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --verbose PUT pie.dev/put hello=world
    PUT /put HTTP/1.1
    Accept: application/json, */*;q=0.5
    Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
    Content-Type: application/json
    Host: pie.dev
    User-Agent: HTTPie/0.2.7dev

    {
        "hello": "world"
    }


    HTTP/1.1 200 OK
    Connection: keep-alive
    Content-Length: 477
    Content-Type: application/json
    Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2012 00:25:23 GMT
    Server: gunicorn/0.13.4

    {
        […]
    }

Quiet output
------------

``--quiet`` redirects all output that would otherwise go to ``stdout``
and ``stderr`` to ``/dev/null`` (except for errors and warnings).
This doesn’t affect output to a file via ``--output`` or ``--download``.

.. code-block:: bash

    # There will be no output:
    $ http --quiet pie.dev/post enjoy='the silence'


Viewing intermediary requests/responses
---------------------------------------

To see all the HTTP communication, i.e. the final request/response as
well as any possible  intermediary requests/responses, use the ``--all``
option. The intermediary HTTP communication include followed redirects
(with ``--follow``), the first unauthorized request when HTTP digest
authentication is used (``--auth=digest``), etc.

.. code-block:: bash

    # Include all responses that lead to the final one:
    $ http --all --follow pie.dev/redirect/3


The intermediary requests/response are by default formatted according to
``--print, -p`` (and its shortcuts described above). If you’d like to change
that, use the ``--history-print, -P`` option. It takes the same
arguments as ``--print, -p`` but applies to the intermediary requests only.


.. code-block:: bash

    # Print the intermediary requests/responses differently than the final one:
    $ http -A digest -a foo:bar --all -p Hh -P H pie.dev/digest-auth/auth/foo/bar


Conditional body download
-------------------------

As an optimization, the response body is downloaded from the server
only if it’s part of the output. This is similar to performing a ``HEAD``
request, except that it applies to any HTTP method you use.

Let’s say that there is an API that returns the whole resource when it is
updated, but you are only interested in the response headers to see the
status code after an update:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --headers PATCH pie.dev/patch name='New Name'


Since we are only printing the HTTP headers here, the connection to the server
is closed as soon as all the response headers have been received.
Therefore, bandwidth and time isn’t wasted downloading the body
which you don’t care about. The response headers are downloaded always,
even if they are not part of the output


Raw request body
================

In addition to crafting structured `JSON`_ and `forms`_ requests with the
`request items`_ syntax, you can provide a raw request body that will be
sent without further processing. These two approaches for specifying request
data (i.e., structured and raw) cannot be combined.

There’re three methods for passing raw request data: piping via ``stdin``,
``--raw='data'``, and ``@/file/path``.


Redirected Input
----------------

The universal method for passing request data is through redirected ``stdin``
(standard input)—piping.

By default, ``stdin`` data is buffered and then with no further processing
used as the request body. If you provide ``Content-Length``, then the request
body is streamed without buffering. You can also use ``--chunked`` to enable
streaming via `chunked transfer encoding`_.

There are multiple useful ways to use piping:

Redirect from a file:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http PUT pie.dev/put X-API-Token:123 < files/data.json


Or the output of another program:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ grep '401 Unauthorized' /var/log/httpd/error_log | http POST pie.dev/post


You can use ``echo`` for simple data:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ echo '{"name": "John"}' | http PATCH pie.dev/patch X-API-Token:123


You can also use a Bash *here string*:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/post <<<'{"name": "John"}'


You can even pipe web services together using HTTPie:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http GET https://api.github.com/repos/httpie/httpie | http POST pie.dev/post


You can use ``cat`` to enter multiline data on the terminal:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ cat | http POST pie.dev/post
    <paste>
    ^D


.. code-block:: bash

    $ cat | http POST pie.dev/post Content-Type:text/plain
    - buy milk
    - call parents
    ^D


On OS X, you can send the contents of the clipboard with ``pbpaste``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ pbpaste | http PUT pie.dev/put


Passing data through ``stdin`` cannot be combined with data fields specified
on the command line:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ echo 'data' | http POST example.org more=data   # This is invalid


To prevent HTTPie from reading ``stdin`` data you can use the
``--ignore-stdin`` option.


Request data via ``--raw``
--------------------------

In a situation when piping data via ``stdin`` is not convenient (for example,
when generating API docs examples), you can specify the raw request body via
the ``--raw`` option.

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --raw 'Hello, world!' pie.dev/post

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --raw '{"name": "John"}' pie.dev/post


Request data from a filename
----------------------------

An alternative to redirected ``stdin`` is specifying a filename (as
``@/path/to/file``) whose content is used as if it came from ``stdin``.

It has the advantage that the ``Content-Type``
header is automatically set to the appropriate value based on the
filename extension. For example, the following request sends the
verbatim contents of that XML file with ``Content-Type: application/xml``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http PUT pie.dev/put @files/data.xml

File uploads are always streamed to avoid memory issues with large files.


Chunked transfer encoding
=========================

You can use the ``--chunked`` flag to instruct HTTPie to use
``Transfer-Encoding: chunked``:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --chunked PUT pie.dev/put hello=world

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --chunked --multipart PUT pie.dev/put hello=world foo@files/data.xml

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --chunked pie.dev/post @files/data.xml

.. code-block:: bash

    $ cat files/data.xml | http --chunked pie.dev/post



Terminal output
===============

HTTPie does several things by default in order to make its terminal output
easy to read.


Colors and formatting
---------------------

Syntax highlighting is applied to HTTP headers and bodies (where it makes
sense). You can choose your preferred color scheme via the ``--style`` option
if you don’t like the default one. There dozens of styles available, here are just a few special or notable ones:

====================   ========================================================================
``auto``               Follows your terminal ANSI color styles. This is the default style used by HTTPie.
``default``            Default styles of the underlying Pygments library. Not actually used by default by HTTPie.
                       You can enable it with ``--style=default``
``monokai``            A popular color scheme. Enable with ``--style=monokai``.
``fruity``             A bold, colorful scheme. Enable with ``--style=fruity``.
…                      See ``$ http --help`` for all the possible ``--style`` values.
====================   ========================================================================

Also, the following formatting is applied:

* HTTP headers are sorted by name.
* JSON data is indented, sorted by keys, and unicode escapes are converted
  to the characters they represent.

One of these options can be used to control output processing:

====================   ========================================================
``--pretty=all``       Apply both colors and formatting.
                       Default for terminal output.
``--pretty=colors``    Apply colors.
``--pretty=format``    Apply formatting.
``--pretty=none``      Disables output processing.
                       Default for redirected output.
====================   ========================================================


You can control the applied formatting via the ``--format-options`` option.
The following options are available:

For example, this is how you would disable the default header and JSON key
sorting, and specify a custom JSON indent size:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --format-options headers.sort:false,json.sort_keys:false,json.indent:2 pie.dev/get

This is something you will typically store as one of the default options in your
`config`_ file. See ``http --help`` for all the available formatting options.

There are also two shortcuts that allow you to quickly disable and re-enable
sorting-related format options (currently it means JSON keys and headers):
``--unsorted`` and ``--sorted``.


Binary data
-----------

Binary data is suppressed for terminal output, which makes it safe to perform
requests to URLs that send back binary data. Binary data is suppressed also in
redirected, but prettified output. The connection is closed as soon as we know
that the response body is binary,

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/bytes/2000


You will nearly instantly see something like this:

.. code-block:: http

    HTTP/1.1 200 OK
    Content-Type: application/octet-stream

    +-----------------------------------------+
    | NOTE: binary data not shown in terminal |
    +-----------------------------------------+


Redirected output
=================

HTTPie uses a different set of defaults for redirected output than for
`terminal output`_. The differences being:

* Formatting and colors aren’t applied (unless ``--pretty`` is specified).
* Only the response body is printed (unless one of the `output options`_ is set).
* Also, binary data isn’t suppressed.

The reason is to make piping HTTPie’s output to another programs and
downloading files work with no extra flags. Most of the time, only the raw
response body is of an interest when the output is redirected.

Download a file:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http pie.dev/image/png > image.png


Download an image of Octocat, resize it using ImageMagick, upload it elsewhere:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http octodex.github.com/images/original.jpg | convert - -resize 25% -  | http example.org/Octocats


Force colorizing and formatting, and show both the request and the response in
``less`` pager:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --pretty=all --verbose pie.dev/get | less -R


The ``-R`` flag tells ``less`` to interpret color escape sequences included
HTTPie`s output.

You can create a shortcut for invoking HTTPie with colorized and paged output
by adding the following to your ``~/.bash_profile``:

.. code-block:: bash

    function httpless {
        # `httpless example.org'
        http --pretty=all --print=hb "$@" | less -R;
    }


Download mode
=============

HTTPie features a download mode in which it acts similarly to ``wget``.

When enabled using the ``--download, -d`` flag, response headers are printed to
the terminal (``stderr``), and a progress bar is shown while the response body
is being saved to a file.

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --download https://github.com/httpie/httpie/archive/master.tar.gz

.. code-block:: http

    HTTP/1.1 200 OK
    Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=httpie-master.tar.gz
    Content-Length: 257336
    Content-Type: application/x-gzip

    Downloading 251.30 kB to "httpie-master.tar.gz"
    Done. 251.30 kB in 2.73862s (91.76 kB/s)


Downloaded filename
--------------------

There are three mutually exclusive ways through which HTTPie determines
the output filename (with decreasing priority):

1. You can explicitly provide it via ``--output, -o``.
   The file gets overwritten if it already exists
   (or appended to with ``--continue, -c``).
2. The server may specify the filename in the optional ``Content-Disposition``
   response header. Any leading dots are stripped from a server-provided filename.
3. The last resort HTTPie uses is to generate the filename from a combination
   of the request URL and the response ``Content-Type``.
   The initial URL is always used as the basis for
   the generated filename — even if there has been one or more redirects.


To prevent data loss by overwriting, HTTPie adds a unique numerical suffix to the
filename when necessary (unless specified with ``--output, -o``).


Piping while downloading
------------------------

You can also redirect the response body to another program while the response
headers and progress are still shown in the terminal:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -d https://github.com/httpie/httpie/archive/master.tar.gz |  tar zxf -



Resuming downloads
------------------

If ``--output, -o`` is specified, you can resume a partial download using the
``--continue, -c`` option. This only works with servers that support
``Range`` requests and ``206 Partial Content`` responses. If the server doesn’t
support that, the whole file will simply be downloaded:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -dco file.zip example.org/file

Other notes
-----------

* The ``--download`` option only changes how the response body is treated.
* You can still set custom headers, use sessions, ``--verbose, -v``, etc.
* ``--download`` always implies ``--follow`` (redirects are followed).
* ``--download`` also implies ``--check-status``
  (error HTTP status will result in a non-zero exist static code).
* HTTPie exits with status code ``1`` (error) if the body hasn’t been fully
  downloaded.
* ``Accept-Encoding`` cannot be set with ``--download``.


Streamed responses
==================

Responses are downloaded and printed in chunks which allows for streaming
and large file downloads without using too much memory. However, when
`colors and formatting`_ is applied, the whole response is buffered and only
then processed at once.


Disabling buffering
-------------------

You can use the ``--stream, -S`` flag to make two things happen:

1. The output is flushed in much smaller chunks without any buffering,
   which makes HTTPie behave kind of like ``tail -f`` for URLs.

2. Streaming becomes enabled even when the output is prettified: It will be
   applied to each line of the response and flushed immediately. This makes
   it possible to have a nice output for long-lived requests, such as one
   to the Twitter streaming API.


Examples use cases
------------------

Prettified streamed response:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --stream pie.dev/stream/3


Streamed output by small chunks à la ``tail -f``:

.. code-block:: bash

    # Send each new line (JSON object) to another URL as soon as it arrives from a streaming API:
    $ http --stream pie.dev/stream/3 | while read line; do echo "$line" | http pie.dev/post ; done

Sessions
========

By default, every request HTTPie makes is completely independent of any
previous ones to the same host.


However, HTTPie also supports persistent
sessions via the ``--session=SESSION_NAME_OR_PATH`` option. In a session,
custom `HTTP headers`_ (except for the ones starting with ``Content-`` or ``If-``),
`authentication`_, and `cookies`_
(manually specified or sent by the server) persist between requests
to the same host.


.. code-block:: bash

    # Create a new session:
    $ http --session=./session.json pie.dev/headers API-Token:123


.. code-block:: bash

    # Inspect / edit the generated session file:
    $ cat session.json

.. code-block:: bash

    # Re-use the existing session — the API-Token header will be set:
    $ http --session=./session.json pie.dev/headers


All session data, including credentials, cookie data,
and custom headers are stored in plain text.
That means session files can also be created and edited manually in a text
editor—they are regular JSON. It also means that they can be read by anyone
who has access to the session file.


Named sessions
--------------


You can create one or more named session per host. For example, this is how
you can create a new session named ``user1`` for ``pie.dev``:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=user1 -a user1:password pie.dev/get X-Foo:Bar

From now on, you can refer to the session by its name (``user1``). When you choose
to use the session again, any previously specified authentication or HTTP headers
will automatically be set:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=user1 pie.dev/get

To create or reuse a different session, simple specify a different name:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=user2 -a user2:password pie.dev/get X-Bar:Foo

Named sessions’s data is stored in JSON files inside the ``sessions``
subdirectory of the `config`_ directory, typically:
``~/.config/httpie/sessions/<host>/<name>.json``
(``%APPDATA%\httpie\sessions\<host>\<name>.json`` on Windows).

If you have executed the above commands on a unix machine,
you should be able list the generated sessions files using:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ ls -l ~/.config/httpie/sessions/pie.dev


Anonymous sessions
------------------

Instead of a name, you can also directly specify a path to a session file. This
allows for sessions to be re-used across multiple hosts:

.. code-block:: bash

    # Create a session:
    $ http --session=/tmp/session.json example.org


.. code-block:: bash

    # Use the session to make a request to another host:
    $ http --session=/tmp/session.json admin.example.org

.. code-block:: bash

    # You can also refer to a previously created named session:
    $ http --session=~/.config/httpie/sessions/another.example.org/test.json example.org


When creating anonymous sessions, please remember to always include at least
one ``/``, even if the session files is located in the current directory
(i.e., ``--session=./session.json`` instead of just ``--session=session.json``),
otherwise HTTPie assumes a named session instead.


Readonly session
----------------

To use an existing session file without updating it from the request/response
exchange after it has been created, specify the session name via
``--session-read-only=SESSION_NAME_OR_PATH`` instead.

.. code-block:: bash

    # If the session file doesn’t exist, then it is created:
    $ http --session-read-only=./ro-session.json pie.dev/headers Custom-Header:orig-value

.. code-block:: bash

    # But it is not updated:
    $ http --session-read-only=./ro-session.json pie.dev/headers Custom-Header:new-value

Cookie Storage Behaviour
------------------------

**TL;DR:** Cookie storage priority: Server response > Command line request > Session file

To set a cookie within a Session there are three options:

1. Get a ``Set-Cookie`` header in a response from a server

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=./session.json pie.dev/cookie/set?foo=bar

2. Set the cookie name and value through the command line as seen in `cookies`_

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http --session=./session.json pie.dev/headers Cookie:foo=bar

3. Manually set cookie parameters in the json file of the session

.. code-block:: json

    {
        "__meta__": {
        "about": "HTTPie session file",
        "help": "https://httpie.org/doc#sessions",
        "httpie": "2.2.0-dev"
        },
        "auth": {
            "password": null,
            "type": null,
            "username": null
        },
        "cookies": {
            "foo": {
                "expires": null,
                "path": "/",
                "secure": false,
                "value": "bar"
                }
        }
    }

Cookies will be set in the session file with the priority specified above. For example, a cookie
set through the command line will overwrite a cookie of the same name stored
in the session file. If the server returns a ``Set-Cookie`` header with a
cookie of the same name, the returned cookie will overwrite the preexisting cookie.

Expired cookies are never stored. If a cookie in a session file expires, it will be removed before
sending a new request. If the server expires an existing cookie, it will also be removed from the
session file.


Config
======

HTTPie uses a simple ``config.json`` file. The file doesn’t exist by default
but you can create it manually.


Config file directory
---------------------

To see the exact location for your installation, run ``http --debug`` and
look for ``config_dir`` in the output.

The default location of the configuration file on most platforms is
``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/httpie/config.json`` (defaulting to
``~/.config/httpie/config.json``).

For backwards compatibility, if the directory ``~/.httpie`` exists,
the configuration file there will be used instead.

On Windows, the config file is located at ``%APPDATA%\httpie\config.json``.

The config directory can be changed by setting the ``$HTTPIE_CONFIG_DIR``
environment variable:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ export HTTPIE_CONFIG_DIR=/tmp/httpie
    $ http pie.dev/get



Configurable options
--------------------

Currently HTTPie offers a single configurable option:


``default_options``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An ``Array`` (by default empty) of default options that should be applied to
every invocation of HTTPie.

For instance, you can use this config option to change your default color theme:


.. code-block:: bash

    $ cat ~/.config/httpie/config.json


.. code-block:: json

    {
        "default_options": [
          "--style=fruity"
        ]
    }


Even though it is technically possible to include there any of HTTPie’s
options, it is not recommended to modify the default behaviour in a way
that would break your compatibility with the wider world as that can
generate a lot of confusion.


Un-setting previously specified options
---------------------------------------

Default options from the config file, or specified any other way,
can be unset for a particular invocation via ``--no-OPTION`` arguments passed
on the command line (e.g., ``--no-style`` or ``--no-session``).



Scripting
=========

When using HTTPie from shell scripts, it can be handy to set the
``--check-status`` flag. It instructs HTTPie to exit with an error if the
HTTP status is one of ``3xx``, ``4xx``, or ``5xx``. The exit status will
be ``3`` (unless ``--follow`` is set), ``4``, or ``5``,
respectively.

.. code-block:: bash

    #!/bin/bash

    if http --check-status --ignore-stdin --timeout=2.5 HEAD pie.dev/get &> /dev/null; then
        echo 'OK!'
    else
        case $? in
            2) echo 'Request timed out!' ;;
            3) echo 'Unexpected HTTP 3xx Redirection!' ;;
            4) echo 'HTTP 4xx Client Error!' ;;
            5) echo 'HTTP 5xx Server Error!' ;;
            6) echo 'Exceeded --max-redirects=<n> redirects!' ;;
            *) echo 'Other Error!' ;;
        esac
    fi


Best practices
--------------

The default behaviour of automatically reading ``stdin`` is typically not
desirable during non-interactive invocations. You most likely want to
use the ``--ignore-stdin`` option to disable it.

It is a common gotcha that without this option HTTPie seemingly hangs.
What happens is that when HTTPie is invoked for example from a cron job,
``stdin`` is not connected to a terminal.
Therefore, rules for `redirected input`_ apply, i.e., HTTPie starts to read it
expecting that the request body will be passed through.
And since there’s no data nor ``EOF``, it will be stuck. So unless you’re
piping some data to HTTPie, this flag should be used in scripts.

Also, it might be good to set a connection ``--timeout`` limit to prevent
your program from hanging if the server never responds.



Meta
====

Interface design
----------------

The syntax of the command arguments closely corresponds to the actual HTTP
requests sent over the wire. It has the advantage  that it’s easy to remember
and read. It is often possible to translate an HTTP request to an HTTPie
argument list just by inlining the request elements. For example, compare this
HTTP request:

.. code-block:: http

    POST /post HTTP/1.1
    Host: pie.dev
    X-API-Key: 123
    User-Agent: Bacon/1.0
    Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

    name=value&name2=value2


with the HTTPie command that sends it:

.. code-block:: bash

    $ http -f POST pie.dev/post \
      X-API-Key:123 \
      User-Agent:Bacon/1.0 \
      name=value \
      name2=value2


Notice that both the order of elements and the syntax is very similar,
and that only a small portion of the command is used to control HTTPie and
doesn’t directly correspond to any part of the request (here it’s only ``-f``
asking HTTPie to send a form request).

The two modes, ``--pretty=all`` (default for terminal) and ``--pretty=none``
(default for redirected output), allow for both user-friendly interactive use
and usage from scripts, where HTTPie serves as a generic HTTP client.

As HTTPie is still under heavy development, the existing command line
syntax and some of the ``--OPTIONS`` may change slightly before
HTTPie reaches its final version ``1.0``. All changes are recorded in the
`change log`_.



Community and Support
---------------------

HTTPie has the following community channels:

* `GitHub issues <https://github.com/jkbr/httpie/issues>`_
  for bug reports and feature requests.
* `Discord server <https://httpie.io/chat>`_
  to ask questions, discuss features, and for general API development discussion.
* `StackOverflow <https://stackoverflow.com>`_
  to ask questions (please make sure to use the
  `httpie <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/httpie>`_ tag).
* Tweet directly to `@httpie <https://twitter.com/httpie>`_.
* You can also tweet directly to `@jakubroztocil`_.


Related projects
----------------

Dependencies
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Under the hood, HTTPie uses these two amazing libraries:

* `Requests <https://python-requests.org>`_
  — Python HTTP library for humans
* `Pygments <https://pygments.org/>`_
  — Python syntax highlighter


HTTPie friends
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HTTPie plays exceptionally well with the following tools:

* `http-prompt <https://github.com/httpie/http-prompt>`_
  —  interactive shell for HTTPie featuring autocomplete
  and command syntax highlighting
* `jq <https://stedolan.github.io/jq/>`_
  — CLI JSON processor that
  works great in conjunction with HTTPie

Helpers to convert from other client tools:

* `CurliPie <https://curlipie.now.sh/>`_ help convert cURL command line to HTTPie command line.


Alternatives
~~~~~~~~~~~~

* `httpcat <https://github.com/jakubroztocil/httpcat>`_ — a lower-level sister utility
  of HTTPie for constructing raw HTTP requests on the command line.
* `curl <https://curl.haxx.se>`_ — a "Swiss knife" command line tool and
  an exceptional library for transferring data with URLs.


Contributing
------------

See `CONTRIBUTING.rst <https://github.com/httpie/httpie/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.rst>`_.


Change log
----------

See `CHANGELOG <https://github.com/httpie/httpie/blob/master/CHANGELOG.rst>`_.


Artwork
-------

* `Logo <https://github.com/claudiatd/httpie-artwork>`_ by `Cláudia Delgado <https://github.com/claudiatd>`_.
* `Animation <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/httpie/httpie/master/httpie.gif>`_ by `Allen Smith <https://github.com/loranallensmith>`_ of GitHub.



Licence
-------

BSD-3-Clause: `LICENSE <https://github.com/httpie/httpie/blob/master/LICENSE>`_.



Authors
-------

`Jakub Roztocil`_  (`@jakubroztocil`_) created HTTPie and `these fine people`_
have contributed.


.. _pip: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/
.. _GitHub API: https://developer.github.com/v3/issues/comments/#create-a-comment
.. _these fine people: https://github.com/httpie/httpie/contributors
.. _Jakub Roztocil: https://roztocil.co
.. _@jakubroztocil: https://twitter.com/jakubroztocil


.. |docs| image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/stable%20docs-httpie.org%2Fdocs-brightgreen?style=flat-square
    :target: https://httpie.org/docs
    :alt: Stable documentation

.. |pypi| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/httpie.svg?style=flat-square&label=latest%20stable%20version
    :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/httpie
    :alt: Latest version released on PyPi

.. |coverage| image:: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/httpie/httpie?style=flat-square
    :target: https://codecov.io/gh/httpie/httpie
    :alt: Test coverage

.. |build| image:: https://github.com/httpie/httpie/workflows/Build/badge.svg
    :target: https://github.com/httpie/httpie/actions
    :alt: Build status of the master branch on Mac/Linux/Windows

.. |gitter| image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/chat-on%20Discord-brightgreen?style=flat-square
    :target: https://httpie.io/chat
    :alt: Chat on Discord

.. |downloads| image:: https://pepy.tech/badge/httpie
    :target: https://pepy.tech/project/httpie
    :alt: Download count