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https://github.com/httpie/httpcat

httpcat is a simple utility for constructing raw HTTP requests on the command line.
https://github.com/httpie/httpcat

api api-testing cli command-line debugging http httpie python terminal utility

Last synced: 3 months ago
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httpcat is a simple utility for constructing raw HTTP requests on the command line.

Host: GitHub
URL: https://github.com/httpie/httpcat
Owner: httpie
License: other
Created: 2016-12-12T17:14:03.000Z (almost 8 years ago)
Default Branch: master
Last Pushed: 2023-08-30T14:59:53.000Z (about 1 year ago)
Last Synced: 2024-07-05T15:30:50.670Z (4 months ago)
Topics: api, api-testing, cli, command-line, debugging, http, httpie, python, terminal, utility
Language: Python
Homepage: https://httpie.io
Size: 25.4 KB
Stars: 227
Watchers: 11
Forks: 29
Open Issues: 0
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml

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README

# `httpcat`

[![Build Status](https://github.com/jakubroztocil/httpcat/workflows/Test/badge.svg)](https://github.com/jakubroztocil/httpcat/actions)

``httpcat`` is a simple utility for constructing raw HTTP
requests on the command line.

## Why?

Sometimes it is useful to be able to create an actual raw
[HTTP request](https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec5.html)
on the command line:

* To debug a server issue
* To test the handling of invalid HTTP requests
* To learn how HTTP works under the hood

In such cases, existing CLI HTTP clients—such as
[`httpie`](https://httpie.org),
[`curl`](https://curl.haxx.se/),
or [`wget`](https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/)
—are too high-level as they provide
an abstraction layer and one doesn't have a complete control over the
exact raw data that gets written to the HTTP socket connection.

Lower-level tools, such as the popular
[`netcat`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netcat), are better suited for this
job.

However, the syntax of HTTP requires headers to be separated with
`\r\n` which makes it difficult to produce them on the command line.
A typical solution involves the use of `echo`:

```bash
$ echo -ne 'POST /post HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: httpbin.org\r\nContent-Length: 5\r\n\r\nHello' | \
nc localhost 8000
```

`httpcat` makes this easier:

## How it works

1. Reads command arguments as lines and then lines from ``stdin``
2. Auto-completes them, if necessary
3. Writes them to ``stdout``

## Features

* Automatic ``\r\n`` completion
* Automatic `Method` completion in `Request-Line`
* Automatic `HTTP-Version` completion in `Request-Line`

## Usage

Interactively create a request and send it with `nc`:

```bash
$ httpcat -v | nc httpbin.org 80
POST /post HTTP/1.1
> POST /post HTTP/1.1\r\n
Host: httpbin.org
> Host: httpbin.org\r\n
Content-Length: 6
> Content-Length: 6\r\n

> \r\n
Hello
> Hello
```

Specify the whole request in the arguments. Here `''` represents an empty
line which will be converted to `\r\n\` separating the headers and the
body. Note also that the omitted `HTTP-Version` is auto-completed:

```bash
$ httpcat -v 'POST /post' 'Host: httpbin.org' 'Content-Length: 5' '' 'Hello' | nc httpbin.org 80
> POST /post HTTP/1.1\r\n
> Host: httpbin.org\r\n
> Content-Length: 5\r\n
> \r\n
> Hello

```

Omitted `Method` is set to `GET` and `HTTP-Version` is auto-completed:

```bash
$ httpcat -v / 'Host: example.org' '' | nc example.org 80
> GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n
> Host: example.org\r\n
> \r\n
```

You can, for example, use `stdin` for data and arguments for headers:

```bash
$ cat file.txt | httpcat -v 'POST /post' 'Host: httpbin.org' 'Content-Length: 16' '' | nc httpbin.org 80
> POST /post HTTP/1.1\r\n
> Host: httpbin.org\r\n
> Content-Length: 16\r\n
> \r\n
> Hello from file
```