Making Requests

ReqSmith provides a powerful and flexible way to make HTTP requests with support for all common methods, headers, authentication, and more.

Basic Request Structure

All ReqSmith requests follow this basic pattern:

reqsmith request <method> <url> [options]

HTTP Methods

ReqSmith supports all standard HTTP methods:

GET Requests

The most common request type for retrieving data:

# Simple GET request
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/users/octocat

# GET with query parameters
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/get \
  --param "page=1" \
  --param "limit=10"

# GET with headers
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/user \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

POST Requests

For creating resources or submitting data:

# POST with JSON data
reqsmith request post https://httpbin.org/post \
  --json '{"name": "John", "email": "john@example.com"}'

# POST with form data
reqsmith request post https://httpbin.org/post \
  --data "name=John&email=john@example.com"

# POST with file upload
reqsmith request post https://httpbin.org/post \
  --file user-data.json

PUT Requests

For updating existing resources:

# PUT with JSON data
reqsmith request put https://api.example.com/users/123 \
  --json '{"name": "Updated Name", "email": "new@example.com"}'

# PUT with custom headers
reqsmith request put https://api.example.com/users/123 \
  --json '{"name": "John"}' \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN"

PATCH Requests

For partial updates:

# PATCH with partial data
reqsmith request patch https://api.example.com/users/123 \
  --json '{"email": "newemail@example.com"}'

DELETE Requests

For removing resources:

# Simple DELETE
reqsmith request delete https://api.example.com/users/123

# DELETE with authentication
reqsmith request delete https://api.example.com/users/123 \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

OPTIONS Requests

For checking allowed methods and CORS:

reqsmith request options https://api.example.com/users

Request Options

Headers

Add custom headers to your requests:

# Single header
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com \
  --header "Accept: application/json"

# Multiple headers
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com \
  --header "Accept: application/json" \
  --header "User-Agent: MyApp/1.0" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN"

Query Parameters

Add query parameters to URLs:

# Single parameter
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/search \
  --param "q=javascript"

# Multiple parameters
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/users \
  --param "page=1" \
  --param "limit=20" \
  --param "sort=name"

Request Body

Different ways to send data in the request body:

JSON Data

# Inline JSON
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/users \
  --json '{"name": "John", "age": 30}'

# JSON from file
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/users \
  --file user.json

Form Data

# URL-encoded form data
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/login \
  --data "username=john&password=secret"

# Multipart form data
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/upload \
  --form "file=@document.pdf" \
  --form "title=My Document"

Raw Data

# Raw text data
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/webhook \
  --data "raw text content" \
  --header "Content-Type: text/plain"

Response Handling

Output Formats

Control how responses are displayed:

# Auto format (default) - detects JSON/XML automatically
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/users/octocat

# Force JSON formatting
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/users/octocat --format json

# Table format for structured data
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/users/octocat --format table

# Raw format (no formatting)
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/users/octocat --format raw

# XML format
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/xml --format xml

Save Responses

Save responses to files:

# Save response body to file
reqsmith request get https://api.github.com/users/octocat \
  --output user-data.json

# Save with custom filename
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/image/png \
  --output image.png

Response Information

View detailed response information:

# Show response headers
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/get \
  --show-headers

# Show request/response timing
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/get \
  --show-timing

# Verbose output (includes request details)
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/get \
  --verbose

Advanced Features

Request Timeout

Set custom timeouts:

# 30 second timeout
reqsmith request get https://slow-api.example.com \
  --timeout 30

# No timeout (wait indefinitely)
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com \
  --timeout 0

SSL/TLS Options

Control SSL verification:

# Disable SSL verification (not recommended for production)
reqsmith request get https://self-signed.example.com \
  --no-verify-ssl

# Use custom CA bundle
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com \
  --ca-bundle /path/to/ca-bundle.pem

Follow Redirects

Control redirect behavior:

# Don't follow redirects
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/redirect/3 \
  --no-follow-redirects

# Limit number of redirects
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/redirect/10 \
  --max-redirects 5

Caching

Control response caching:

# Disable caching for this request
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/data \
  --no-cache

# Force cache refresh
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/data \
  --refresh-cache

Authentication

Bearer Token

reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/protected \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Basic Authentication

reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/basic-auth/user/pass \
  --header "Authorization: Basic $(echo -n 'user:pass' | base64)"

API Key

# In header
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/data \
  --header "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# In query parameter
reqsmith request get https://api.example.com/data \
  --param "api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"

Error Handling

ReqSmith provides detailed error information:

# View detailed error information
reqsmith request get https://httpbin.org/status/404 \
  --verbose

# Continue on error (useful for scripts)
reqsmith request get https://invalid-url.example.com \
  --continue-on-error

GraphQL Requests

ReqSmith has special support for GraphQL:

# GraphQL query
reqsmith request graphql https://api.github.com/graphql \
  --query 'query { viewer { login name } }' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# GraphQL mutation
reqsmith request graphql https://api.example.com/graphql \
  --query 'mutation { createUser(input: {name: "John"}) { id name } }' \
  --variables '{"name": "John Doe"}'

# GraphQL from file
reqsmith request graphql https://api.example.com/graphql \
  --query-file query.graphql \
  --variables-file variables.json

Batch Requests

Execute multiple requests from a file:

# Create a batch file (requests.json)
echo '[
  {
    "method": "GET",
    "url": "https://httpbin.org/get",
    "description": "Test GET request"
  },
  {
    "method": "POST", 
    "url": "https://httpbin.org/post",
    "json": {"test": "data"},
    "description": "Test POST request"
  }
]' > requests.json

# Execute batch requests
reqsmith request batch requests.json

Request Validation

ReqSmith can validate requests before sending:

# Validate JSON before sending
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/users \
  --json '{"name": "John"}' \
  --validate-json

# Validate against OpenAPI schema
reqsmith request post https://api.example.com/users \
  --json '{"name": "John"}' \
  --schema openapi.yaml

Tips and Best Practices

1. Use environment variables for sensitive data like API keys
2. Save frequently used requests as templates for reuse
3. Use appropriate timeouts for your network conditions
4. Enable caching for better performance with repeated requests
5. Use table format for better readability during development
6. Always validate SSL certificates in production
7. Use batch requests for testing multiple endpoints

Next Steps

• Learn about Templates to save and reuse requests
• Explore Environment Management for different configurations
• Check out Request History to track and replay requests
• Set up Caching for better performance