base on Friendly and fast tool for sending HTTP requests # xh [](https://crates.io/crates/xh) [](https://repology.org/project/xh/versions) `xh` is a friendly and fast tool for sending HTTP requests. It reimplements as much as possible of [HTTPie's](https://httpie.io/) excellent design, with a focus on improved performance. [](https://asciinema.org/a/475190) ## Installation ### via cURL (Linux & macOS) ``` curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ducaale/xh/master/install.sh | sh ``` ### via Powershell (Windows) ``` iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ducaale/xh/master/install.ps1 | iex ``` ### via a package manager | OS | Method | Command | |-------------------------------|------------|--------------------------------------------| | Any | Cargo\* | `cargo install xh --locked` | | Any | [Huber] | `huber install xh` | | Android ([Termux]) | pkg | `pkg install xh` | | Android ([Magisk]/[KernelSU]) | MMRL\*\* | `mmrl install xhhttp` | | Alpine Linux | apk\*\*\* | `apk add xh` | | Arch Linux | Pacman | `pacman -S xh` | | Debian & Ubuntu | Apt\*\*\*\*| `sudo apt install xh` | | FreeBSD | FreshPorts | `pkg install xh` | | NetBSD | pkgsrc | `pkgin install xh` | | Linux & macOS | Nixpkgs | `nix-env -iA nixpkgs.xh` | | Linux & macOS | [Flox] | `flox install xh` | | Linux & macOS | Homebrew | `brew install xh` | | Linux & macOS | [Hermit] | `hermit install xh` | | macOS | MacPorts | `sudo port install xh` | | Windows | Scoop | `scoop install xh` | | Windows | Chocolatey | `choco install xh` | | Windows | Winget | `winget add ducaale.xh` | \* Make sure that you have Rust 1.85 or later installed \*\* You will need to install the [MMRL CLI](https://github.com/DerGoogler/MMRL-CLI/releases) \*\*\* Built with native-tls only. \*\*\*\* Available since Debian 13 and Ubuntu 25.04. Built with native-tls only. [Huber]: https://github.com/innobead/huber#installing-huber [Magisk]: https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk [KernelSU]: https://kernelsu.org [Termux]: https://github.com/termux/termux-app [Flox]: https://flox.dev/docs/ [Hermit]: https://cashapp.github.io/hermit/ ### via pre-built binaries The [release page](https://github.com/ducaale/xh/releases) contains prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows. ## Usage ``` Usage: xh [OPTIONS] <[METHOD] URL> [REQUEST_ITEM]... Arguments: <[METHOD] URL> The request URL, preceded by an optional HTTP method [REQUEST_ITEM]... Optional key-value pairs to be included in the request. Options: -j, --json (default) Serialize data items from the command line as a JSON object -f, --form Serialize data items from the command line as form fields --multipart Like --form, but force a multipart/form-data request even without files --raw <RAW> Pass raw request data without extra processing --pretty <STYLE> Controls output processing [possible values: all, colors, format, none] --format-options <FORMAT_OPTIONS> Set output formatting options -s, --style <THEME> Output coloring style [possible values: auto, solarized, monokai, fruity] --response-charset <ENCODING> Override the response encoding for terminal display purposes --response-mime <MIME_TYPE> Override the response mime type for coloring and formatting for the terminal -p, --print <FORMAT> String specifying what the output should contain -h, --headers Print only the response headers. Shortcut for --print=h -b, --body Print only the response body. Shortcut for --print=b -m, --meta Print only the response metadata. Shortcut for --print=m -v, --verbose... Print the whole request as well as the response --debug Print full error stack traces and debug log messages --all Show any intermediary requests/responses while following redirects with --follow -P, --history-print <FORMAT> The same as --print but applies only to intermediary requests/responses -q, --quiet... Do not print to stdout or stderr -S, --stream Always stream the response body -x, --compress... Content compressed (encoded) with Deflate algorithm -o, --output <FILE> Save output to FILE instead of stdout -d, --download Download the body to a file instead of printing it -c, --continue Resume an interrupted download. Requires --download and --output --session <FILE> Create, or reuse and update a session --session-read-only <FILE> Create or read a session without updating it from the request/response exchange -A, --auth-type <AUTH_TYPE> Specify the auth mechanism [possible values: basic, bearer, digest] -a, --auth <USER[:PASS] | TOKEN> Authenticate as USER with PASS (-A basic|digest) or with TOKEN (-A bearer) --ignore-netrc Do not use credentials from .netrc --offline Construct HTTP requests without sending them anywhere --check-status (default) Exit with an error status code if the server replies with an error -F, --follow Do follow redirects --max-redirects <NUM> Number of redirects to follow. Only respected if --follow is used --timeout <SEC> Connection timeout of the request --proxy <PROTOCOL:URL> Use a proxy for a protocol. For example: --proxy https:http://proxy.host:8080 --verify <VERIFY> If "no", skip SSL verification. If a file path, use it as a CA bundle --cert <FILE> Use a client side certificate for SSL --cert-key <FILE> A private key file to use with --cert --ssl <VERSION> Force a particular TLS version [possible values: auto, tls1, tls1.1, tls1.2, tls1.3] --https Make HTTPS requests if not specified in the URL --http-version <VERSION> HTTP version to use [possible values: 1.0, 1.1, 2, 2-prior-knowledge, 3-prior-knowledge] --resolve <HOST:ADDRESS> Override DNS resolution for specific domain to a custom IP --interface <NAME> Bind to a network interface or local IP address -4, --ipv4 Resolve hostname to ipv4 addresses only -6, --ipv6 Resolve hostname to ipv6 addresses only --unix-socket <FILE> Connect using a Unix domain socket -I, --ignore-stdin Do not attempt to read stdin --curl Print a translation to a curl command --curl-long Use the long versions of curl's flags --generate <KIND> Generate shell completions or man pages --help Print help -V, --version Print version Each option can be reset with a --no-OPTION argument. ``` Run `xh help` for more detailed information. ### Request Items `xh` uses [HTTPie's request-item syntax](https://httpie.io/docs/cli/request-items) to set headers, request body, query string, etc. - `=`/`:=` for setting the request body's JSON or form fields (`=` for strings and `:=` for other JSON types). - `==` for adding query strings. - `@` for including files in multipart requests e.g `[email protected]` or `[email protected];type=image/jpeg;filename=goodbye.jpg`. - `:` for adding or removing headers e.g `connection:keep-alive` or `connection:`. - `;` for including headers with empty values e.g `header-without-value;`. An `@` prefix can be used to read a value from a file. For example: `x-api-key:@api-key.txt`. The request body can also be read from standard input, or from a file using `@filename`. To construct a complex JSON object, a JSON path can be used as a key e.g `app[container][0][id]=090-5`. For more information on this syntax, refer to https://httpie.io/docs/cli/nested-json. ### Shorthand form for URLs Similar to HTTPie, specifying the scheme portion of the request URL is optional, and a leading colon works as shorthand for localhost. `:8000` is equivalent to `localhost:8000`, and `:/path` is equivalent to `localhost/path`. URLs can have a leading `://` which allows quickly converting a URL into a valid xh or HTTPie command. For example `http://httpbin.org/json` becomes `http ://httpbin.org/json`. ```sh xh http://localhost:3000/users # resolves to http://localhost:3000/users xh localhost:3000/users # resolves to http://localhost:3000/users xh :3000/users # resolves to http://localhost:3000/users xh :/users # resolves to http://localhost:80/users xh example.com # resolves to http://example.com xh ://example.com # resolves to http://example.com ``` ### Making HTTPS requests by default `xh` will default to HTTPS scheme if the binary name is one of `xhs`, `https`, or `xhttps`. If you have installed `xh` via a package manager, both `xh` and `xhs` should be available by default. Otherwise, you need to create one like this: ```sh cd /path/to/xh && ln -s ./xh ./xhs xh httpbin.org/get # resolves to http://httpbin.org/get xhs httpbin.org/get # resolves to https://httpbin.org/get ``` ### Strict compatibility mode If `xh` is invoked as `http` or `https` (by renaming the binary), or if the `XH_HTTPIE_COMPAT_MODE` environment variable is set, it will run in HTTPie compatibility mode. The only current difference is that `--check-status` is not enabled by default. ## Examples ```sh # Send a GET request xh httpbin.org/json # Send a POST request with body {"name": "ahmed", "age": 24} xh httpbin.org/post name=ahmed age:=24 # Send a GET request with querystring id=5&sort=true xh get httpbin.org/json id==5 sort==true # Send a GET request and include a header named x-api-key with value 12345 xh get httpbin.org/json x-api-key:12345 # Send a POST request with body read from stdin. echo "[1, 2, 3]" | xh post httpbin.org/post # Send a PUT request and pipe the result to less xh put httpbin.org/put id:=49 age:=25 | less # Download and save to res.json xh -d httpbin.org/json -o res.json # Make a request with a custom user agent xh httpbin.org/get user-agent:foobar ``` ## How xh compares to HTTPie ### Advantages - Improved startup speed. - Available as a single statically linked binary that's easy to install and carry around. - HTTP/2 support. - Builtin translation to curl commands with the `--curl` flag. - Short, cheatsheet-style output from `--help`. (For longer output, pass `help`.) ### Disadvantages - Not all of HTTPie's features are implemented. ([#4](https://github.com/ducaale/xh/issues/4)) - No plugin system. - General immaturity. HTTPie is old and well-tested. - Worse documentation. ## Similar or related Projects - [curlie](https://github.com/rs/curlie) - frontend to cURL that adds the ease of use of httpie - [httpie-go](https://github.com/nojima/httpie-go) - httpie-like HTTP client written in Go - [curl2httpie](https://github.com/dcb9/curl2httpie) - convert command arguments between cURL and HTTPie ", Assign "at most 3 tags" to the expected json: {"id":"3339","tags":[]} "only from the tags list I provide: []" returns me the "expected json"