HTTP Clients — Practical Notes#

METHOD URL
Headers
Body

curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"name":"Alice","course":"TDS"}'

GET = read
POST = create/action
PUT/PATCH = update
DELETE = remove

curl https://httpbin.org/get

curl "https://httpbin.org/get?name=Alice&course=TDS"

curl -G https://httpbin.org/get \
  --data-urlencode "name=Alice" \
  --data-urlencode "course=TDS"

curl -i https://httpbin.org/get

curl -v https://httpbin.org/get

curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"Alice"}'

export TOKEN="your_token_here"

curl https://httpbin.org/headers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @payload.json

curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "description=My report"

curl -L https://httpbin.org/redirect/2

curl -sS --fail-with-body \
  -w "\nStatus: %{http_code}\n" \
  https://httpbin.org/status/404

curl https://httpbin.org/get
curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post -d '{"x":1}' -H "Content-Type: application/json"
curl -i https://httpbin.org/status/429
curl https://httpbin.org/delay/3

2xx = success
4xx = your request problem
5xx = server problem
429 = slow down

uv add requests

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://httpbin.org/get",
    params={"name": "Alice"},
    timeout=10,
)

r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json())

import requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://httpbin.org/post",
    json={"name": "Alice", "course": "TDS"},
    timeout=10,
)

r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json())

import os
import requests

token = os.environ["TOKEN"]

r = requests.get(
    "https://httpbin.org/headers",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"},
    timeout=10,
)

print(r.json())

import requests

try:
    r = requests.get("https://httpbin.org/status/404", timeout=10)
    r.raise_for_status()
    print(r.json())

except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
    print("Request timed out")

except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as e:
    print("HTTP error:", e)

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
    print("Network error:", e)

Always use timeout
Use params= for query parameters
Use json= for JSON body
Use raise_for_status() for 4xx/5xx
Use environment variables for tokens

uv add httpx

import httpx

r = httpx.get(
    "https://httpbin.org/get",
    params={"name": "Alice"},
    timeout=10,
)

r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json())

import httpx

with httpx.Client(
    base_url="https://httpbin.org",
    headers={"Accept": "application/json"},
    timeout=10,
) as client:
    r = client.get("/get", params={"topic": "httpx"})
    r.raise_for_status()
    print(r.json())

import asyncio
import httpx

async def main():
    async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=10) as client:
        r = await client.get("https://httpbin.org/get")
        r.raise_for_status()
        print(r.json())

asyncio.run(main())

GET    /users        # list users
GET    /users/10     # get one user
POST   /users        # create user
PATCH  /users/10     # update user
DELETE /users/10     # delete user

POST /graphql

{
  user(id: 10) {
    name
    email
    posts {
      title
    }
  }
}

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"query":"{ viewer { login name } }"}'

curl -v -i --fail-with-body \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"Alice"}' \
  https://httpbin.org/post

[ ] I can use `curl` to make GET and POST requests.
[ ] I understand the structure of an HTTP request (Method, URL, Headers, Body).
[ ] I know how to test APIs safely using `httpbin.org`.
[ ] I know what the 2xx, 4xx, and 5xx status codes generally mean.
[ ] I can use Python's `requests` library to fetch JSON data.
[ ] I always use `raise_for_status()` and `timeout` in my Python requests.
[ ] I understand the high-level difference between REST and GraphQL.

curl      = test/debug API
httpbin   = safe practice server
requests  = simple Python API calls
httpx     = modern sync/async Python API calls
status codes = understand result
REST      = resource-based API
GraphQL   = query-based API

First make the API work in curl, then write Python code.