Can it handle authentication?

Yes. It supports basic and digest auth via -a and --auth-type, plus custom headers and client certificates for mTLS.

How do I send JSON versus form data?

key=value fields serialize to JSON by default (-j); use -f to send them as application/x-www-form-urlencoded instead.

Can it signal HTTP errors to a script?

Yes. --check-status makes HTTPie exit non-zero on HTTP error responses so a workflow can branch on it.

How do I follow redirects?

Enable -F to follow 30x Location redirects. Cap the hop count with --max-redirects when a target chains many redirects.

What about TLS verification?

--verify defaults to yes. Set it to no or false to skip certificate checks on lab hosts with self-signed certs.

Updated Jul 15, 2026

Utilities

Craft clear HTTP requests for APIs and servers

A human-friendly CLI HTTP client for APIs and servers.

Test and debug an API endpoint Fetch a response inside a workflow Exercise authenticated services

overview

What HTTPie does

HTTPie is a command-line HTTP client built for readability. Headers, query parameters, and JSON or form fields stay clear on the command line, so a request reads like what it does. That makes it a practical choice for testing and debugging APIs during recon or development.

Syntax is flat: key=value becomes a JSON field, key==value a query parameter, Header:value a header. -a and --auth-type cover basic or digest auth; -F follows redirects; -j or -f pick JSON versus form bodies; --verify controls TLS checks. --check-status can fail the exit code on HTTP errors.

Trickest runs HTTPie as a managed utilities step that takes a URL plus request options and writes a file and a folder with the response. Use it to fetch an endpoint, exercise an API mid-pipeline, or capture a body a later node parses.

source github.com/httpie/httpie

use cases

Where HTTPie fits

Test and debug an API endpoint

Send GET or POST requests with JSON fields, headers, and auth in a readable one-liner to inspect how an endpoint responds.

Fetch a response inside a workflow

Call a URL as a node and write the response to a file that a downstream step parses or routes.

Exercise authenticated services

Use basic or digest auth, custom headers, and client certificates to reach endpoints that require credentials or mTLS.

Submit form or multipart data

Serialize command-line fields as form data or force a multipart request to test uploads and form handlers.

reference

HTTPie inputs and flags

27 inputs

Name	Type	Flag	Description
url	STRING	·	Request URL to call.
http-method	STRING	·	HTTP method for the request, e.g. GET or POST.
http-headers	STRING	·	Request headers using ':' as the key-value separator, e.g. Cookie:foo=bar.
url-parameters	STRING	·	Query parameters appended to the URL using '==' as the separator, e.g. search==httpie.
authentication	STRING	-a	Credentials in USER:PASS format.
auth-type	STRING	--auth-type	Authentication mechanism: basic (default) or digest.
follow-redirects	BOOLEAN	-F	Follow 30x Location redirects.
verify	STRING	--verify	Set to no or false to skip the host's SSL certificate check.

Showing key inputs. HTTPie exposes 27 inputs in total.

Full flag reference (27 inputs)

Name	Type	Flag	Description
url	STRING	·	Request URL
http	BOOLEAN	http	Httpie http method
https	BOOLEAN	https	Httpie https method
proxy	STRING	--proxy	Format: Protocol:PROXY_URL. String mapping protocol to the URL of the proxy.
verify	STRING	--verify	Set to "no" or "false" to skip checking the host's SSL certificate. Default: "yes" or "true". You can set REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE environment variable.
timeout	STRING	-timeout	The connection timeout of the request in seconds.
boundary	STRING	--boundary	Specify a custom boundary string for multipart/form-data requests. Has effect only with --form.
compress	BOOLEAN	-x	Content compressed (encoded) with Deflate algorithm. The Content-Encoding header is set to deflate.
auth-type	STRING	--auth-type	The authentication mechanism to use. Default: basic. Options: basic - Basic HTTP auth; digest - Digest HTTP auth.
multipart	BOOLEAN	--multipart	Always sends a multipart/form-data request.
certificate	FILE	--cert	Specify a certificate to use as cliend side SSL certificate.
http-method	STRING	·	Http method
max-headers	STRING	--max-headers	The maximum number of response headers to be read before giving up.
private-key	STRING	--cert-key	The private key to use with SSL. Only needed if there is no key in provided certificate file.
check-status	BOOLEAN	--check-status	By default, HTTPie exits with 0 when no network or other fatal errors occur.
http-headers	STRING	·	Http Headers. Use ":" as a key-value separator. Example: Cookie:foo=bar.
max-redirects	STRING	--max-redirects	By default, requests have a limit of 30 redirects (works with -f).
authentication	STRING	-a	Format : USER:PASS
url-parameters	STRING	·	URL parameters to be appended to the request URI. Use "==" as a key-value separator. Example: search==httpie.
open-ssl-cipher	STRING	--ciphers	A string in the OpenSSL cipher list format.
data-fields-json	STRING	·	Data fields to be serialized into a JSON object (use with -j). or form data (use with -f). Example: name=HTTPie.
follow-redirects	BOOLEAN	-F	Follow 30x Location redirects.
protocol-version	STRING	--ssl	The desired protocol version to use. This will default to SSL v2.3.
bypass-dot-segment	BOOLEAN	--path-as-is	Bypass dot segment (/../ or /./) URL squashing.
serialize-as-form-fields	BOOLEAN	-f	Data items from the command line are serialized as form fields. The Content-Type ise set to application/x-www-form-urlencoded (if not specified). The presence of any file fields results in a multipart/form-data request.
serialize-as-json-object	BOOLEAN	-j	Data items from the command line are serialized as a Json Object. The Content-Type and Accept headers are set to application/json(if not specified).
non-string-json-data-fields	STRING	·	Non-string JSON data fields (only with -j). Use ":=" as a separator. Example: awesome:=true.

example

Run HTTPie

HTTPie · command

# GET with auth, follow redirects, skip TLS verify on a lab hosthttpie https -a user:pass -F --verify=no GET https://api.example.com/v1/status

sample output

HTTP/1.1 200 OKContent-Type: application/jsonServer: example-api {    "status": "ok",    "host": "api.example.com",    "upstream": "app.example.com",    "ip": "198.51.100.40"}

guidance

Choosing HTTPie

Reach for HTTPie when you want readable, scriptable HTTP requests for testing APIs and servers. For high-throughput probing of many hosts, httpx is built for scale. For raw control over every byte of a request, curl goes lower-level.

curl

The ubiquitous low-level client. More control over raw requests, far less readable syntax.

httpx

Probes thousands of hosts for status, title, and tech. Built for scale, not single readable requests.

httprobe

Minimal liveness checker. Answers whether a host is up rather than crafting a full request.

faq

HTTPie questions

Same job, friendlier syntax. Fields, params, and headers read clearly on the command line, and JSON is the default body format.

Run HTTPie yourself

A URL feeds HTTPie, which sends the request and writes the response as a queryable output a later node can parse.

Run HTTPie in Trickest View the workflow

Facts on this page come from the live Trickest tool library.

Name

Type

Flag

Description

url

STRING

Request URL to call.

http-method

STRING

HTTP method for the request, e.g. GET or POST.

http-headers

STRING

Request headers using ':' as the key-value separator, e.g. Cookie:foo=bar.

url-parameters

STRING

Query parameters appended to the URL using '==' as the separator, e.g. search==httpie.

authentication

STRING

-a

Credentials in USER:PASS format.

auth-type

STRING

--auth-type

Authentication mechanism: basic (default) or digest.

follow-redirects

BOOLEAN

-F

Follow 30x Location redirects.

verify

STRING

--verify

Set to no or false to skip the host's SSL certificate check.

Name

Type

Flag

Description

url

STRING

Request URL

http

BOOLEAN

http

Httpie http method

https

BOOLEAN

https

Httpie https method

proxy

STRING

--proxy

Format: Protocol:PROXY_URL. String mapping protocol to the URL of the proxy.

verify

STRING

--verify

Set to "no" or "false" to skip checking the host's SSL certificate. Default: "yes" or "true". You can set REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE environment variable.

timeout

STRING

-timeout

The connection timeout of the request in seconds.

boundary

STRING

--boundary

Specify a custom boundary string for multipart/form-data requests. Has effect only with --form.

compress

BOOLEAN

-x

Content compressed (encoded) with Deflate algorithm. The Content-Encoding header is set to deflate.

auth-type

STRING

--auth-type

The authentication mechanism to use. Default: basic. Options: basic - Basic HTTP auth; digest - Digest HTTP auth.

multipart

BOOLEAN

--multipart

Always sends a multipart/form-data request.

certificate

FILE

--cert

Specify a certificate to use as cliend side SSL certificate.

http-method

STRING

Http method

max-headers

STRING

--max-headers

The maximum number of response headers to be read before giving up.

private-key

STRING

--cert-key

The private key to use with SSL. Only needed if there is no key in provided certificate file.

check-status

BOOLEAN

--check-status

By default, HTTPie exits with 0 when no network or other fatal errors occur.

http-headers

STRING

Http Headers. Use ":" as a key-value separator. Example: Cookie:foo=bar.

max-redirects

STRING

--max-redirects

By default, requests have a limit of 30 redirects (works with -f).

authentication

STRING

-a

Format : USER:PASS

url-parameters

STRING

URL parameters to be appended to the request URI. Use "==" as a key-value separator. Example: search==httpie.

open-ssl-cipher

STRING

--ciphers

A string in the OpenSSL cipher list format.

data-fields-json

STRING

Data fields to be serialized into a JSON object (use with -j). or form data (use with -f). Example: name=HTTPie.

follow-redirects

BOOLEAN

-F

Follow 30x Location redirects.

protocol-version

STRING

--ssl

The desired protocol version to use. This will default to SSL v2.3.

bypass-dot-segment

BOOLEAN

--path-as-is

Bypass dot segment (/../ or /./) URL squashing.

serialize-as-form-fields

BOOLEAN

-f

Data items from the command line are serialized as form fields. The Content-Type ise set to application/x-www-form-urlencoded (if not specified). The presence of any file fields results in a multipart/form-data request.

serialize-as-json-object

BOOLEAN

-j

Data items from the command line are serialized as a Json Object. The Content-Type and Accept headers are set to application/json(if not specified).

non-string-json-data-fields

STRING

Non-string JSON data fields (only with -j). Use ":=" as a separator. Example: awesome:=true.

Craft clear HTTP requests for APIs and servers

What HTTPie does

Where HTTPie fits

Test and debug an API endpoint

Fetch a response inside a workflow

Exercise authenticated services

Submit form or multipart data

HTTPie inputs and flags

Run HTTPie

Choosing HTTPie

curl

httpx

httprobe

HTTPie questions

More Utilities tools

cewl

dnsgen

airtable-integration

apktool-decode

assert-tool

aws-route53-zones

Run HTTPie yourself

Craft clear HTTP requests for APIs and servers

What HTTPie does

Where HTTPie fits

Test and debug an API endpoint

Fetch a response inside a workflow

Exercise authenticated services

Submit form or multipart data

HTTPie inputs and flags

Run HTTPie

Choosing HTTPie

curl

httpx

httprobe

HTTPie questions

More Utilities tools

cewl

dnsgen

airtable-integration

apktool-decode

assert-tool

aws-route53-zones

Run HTTPie yourself