xh
v0.23.0
xh is a friendly and fast tool for sending HTTP requests. It reimplements as much
as possible of HTTPie's excellent design, with a focus
on improved performance.
curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ducaale/xh/master/install.sh | sh
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ducaale/xh/master/install.ps1 | iex
| 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 1.74 or later installed
** You will need to install the MMRL CLI
*** The xh package is available in Edge and will be in v3.17+. It is built with native-tls only.
**** You will need to add the apt repository from https://apt.cli.rs/
The release page contains prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows.
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 -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 form 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] --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 -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 --help Print help -V, --version Print version Each option can be reset with a --no-OPTION argument.
Run xh help for more detailed information.
xh uses HTTPie's request-item syntax 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.
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 examplehttp://httpbin.org/json becomes http ://httpbin.org/json.
xh http://localhost:3000/users # resolves to http://localhost:3000/usersxh localhost:3000/users # resolves to http://localhost:3000/usersxh :3000/users # resolves to http://localhost:3000/usersxh :/users # resolves to http://localhost:80/usersxh example.com # resolves to http://example.comxh ://example.com # resolves to http://example.com
xh will default to HTTPS scheme if the binary name is one of xhs, https, or xhttps. If you have installed xhvia a package manager, both xh and xhs should be available by default. Otherwise, you need to create one like this:
cd /path/to/xh && ln -s ./xh ./xhs xh httpbin.org/get # resolves to http://httpbin.org/getxhs httpbin.org/get # resolves to https://httpbin.org/get
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.
# Send a GET requestxh 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=truexh get httpbin.org/json id==5 sort==true# Send a GET request and include a header named x-api-key with value 12345xh 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 lessxh put httpbin.org/put id:=49 age:=25 | less# Download and save to res.jsonxh -d httpbin.org/json -o res.json# Make a request with a custom user agentxh httpbin.org/get user-agent:foobarImproved 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.)
Not all of HTTPie's features are implemented. (#4)
No plugin system.
General immaturity. HTTPie is old and well-tested.
Worse documentation.
curlie - frontend to cURL that adds the ease of use of httpie
httpie-go - httpie-like HTTP client written in Go
curl2httpie - convert command arguments between cURL and HTTPie
