httpie-cli

# HTTPie CLI — Complete Reference > "curl for humans" — expressive syntax, colorized output, built-in JSON support. ## Installation ```bash # Universal pip install httpie # macOS brew install httpie # Windows choco install httpie # Upgrade pip install --upgrade httpie ``` --- ## Core Syntax ``` http [flags] [METHOD] URL [ITEM...] https [flags] [METHOD] URL [ITEM...] # forces HTTPS ``` **Method defaults:** GET if no body, POST if body present. --- ## Request Items — Key Operators | Operator | Type | Example | |----------|------|---------| | `:` | Header | `X-Token:abc123` | | `==` | URL query param | `page==2` | | `=` | JSON / form string field | `name=John` | | `:=` | Raw JSON (non-string) | `age:=29` | | `@` | File upload | `photo@~/pic.jpg` | | `=@` | String from file | `body=@note.txt` | | `:=@` | Raw JSON from file | `data:=@payload.json` | --- ## Common Examples ```bash # Simple GET http httpie.io/hello https api.github.com/repos/httpie/cli # POST JSON (auto Content-Type: application/json) http POST api.example.com name=John age:=29 married:=false # Nested JSON http POST api.example.com platform[name]=HTTPie platform[stars]:=54000 # PUT with header + data http PUT pie.dev/put X-API-Token:123 name=John # Query params http https://api.github.com/search/repositories q==httpie per_page==1 # Localhost shortcut http :3000/api # → http://localhost:3000/api http :/health # → http://localhost/health ``` --- ## Authentication ```bash # Basic auth http -a username:password api.example.com # Digest auth http -A digest -a user:pass api.example.com # Bearer token http -A bearer -a mytoken api.example.com # GitHub API example http -a USERNAME POST https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/issues/1/comments body='text' ``` --- ## Forms & File Uploads ```bash # URL-encoded form http --form POST api.example.com name='John Smith' email=john@example.com # Multipart file upload http -f POST api.example.com name='John' cv@~/resume.pdf photo@~/pic.jpg ``` --- ## Output Control ```bash http -h api.example.com # headers only http -b api.example.com # body only http -v api.example.com # full verbose (request + response) http -m api.example.com # metadata + timing http -q api.example.com # quiet (no output) http -p Hh api.example.com # custom: request headers + response headers http --offline POST api.example.com data=test # build request without sending ``` --- ## Downloads ```bash http --download https://example.com/file.zip http -d https://example.com/file.zip -o myfile.zip # custom filename http -dc https://example.com/file.zip # resume interrupted download ``` --- ## Sessions (Persist Cookies + Auth) ```bash # Named session (saved to ~/.config/httpie/sessions/) http --session=myapp -a user:pass api.example.com/login http --session=myapp api.example.com/profile # reuses cookies + auth # Anonymous session (one-off) http --session=/tmp/session.json api.example.com ``` --- ## Raw Body & Stdin ```bash # From stdin echo '{"key":"value"}' | http POST api.example.com cat data.json | http PUT api.example.com # From file (auto Content-Type detection) http PUT api.example.com @data.xml # Raw flag http --raw '{"data":"test"}' POST api.example.com ``` --- ## HTTPS / SSL ```bash http --verify=no https://example.org # skip SSL verification http --verify=/path/to/ca-bundle.pem https://... # custom CA http --cert=client.pem --cert-key=key.pem https://... # client cert http --ssl=tls1.2 https://example.org # force TLS version ``` --- ## Proxies ```bash http --proxy=http:http://10.10.1.10:3128 example.org http --proxy=https:socks5://user:pass@host:port example.org # Or via env vars: export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy:8080 export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy:8080 export NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1 ``` --- ## Redirects ```bash http --follow pie.dev/redirect/3 # follow redirects http --follow --all pie.dev/redirect/3 # show all intermediate responses http --max-redirects=5 pie.dev/redirect/10 ``` --- ## Streaming & Chunked ```bash http --stream pie.dev/stream/100 # stream response http --chunked POST api.example.com @large.xml # chunked upload http --compress POST api.example.com @data.xml # deflate compression ``` --- ## Scripting Best Practices ```bash # Non-interactive script — always use these flags: http --check-status --ignore-stdin --timeout=2.5 HEAD pie.dev/get # Exit codes: # 2 = connection timeout # 3 = 3xx not followed # 4 = 4xx client error # 5 = 5xx server error ``` --- ## Plugins ```bash httpie cli plugins install httpie-aws-auth httpie cli plugins install httpie-oauth httpie cli plugins install httpie-jwt-auth httpie cli plugins list httpie cli plugins upgrade httpie-aws-auth httpie cli plugins uninstall httpie-aws-auth httpie cli check-updates ``` --- ## Config File `~/.config/httpie/config.json` (Linux/macOS) `%APPDATA%\httpie\config.json` (Windows) ```json { "default_options": ["--style=fruity", "--verify=no"], "plugins_dir": "~/.config/httpie/plugins" } ``` Unset any option per-request: `--no-OPTION` (e.g. `--no-verify`, `--no-style`) --- ## Quick Cheat Sheet ```bash # Test if API is alive http HEAD api.example.com # GET with auth + query params http -a user:pass api.example.com/data page==1 limit==20 # POST JSON with nested object http POST api.example.com user[name]=John user[age]:=30 tags:='["vip","new"]' # Upload + form field http -f POST api.example.com title="My Doc" file@doc.pdf # Full verbose debug http -v POST api.example.com Authorization:"Bearer token" data=test # Download with progress http --download https://files.example.com/large.tar.gz # Offline request preview http --offline DELETE api.example.com/resource/42 Authorization:"Bearer token" ```