Request Data Types

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This guide explains the different ways to structure and send data with your HTTP requests using dotnet-httpie.

Overview

dotnet-httpie supports multiple request data formats and provides intuitive syntax for different data types:

Query Parameters: name==value
Headers: name:value
JSON Fields: name=value
Raw JSON Values: name:=value

Query Parameters

Query parameters are appended to the URL and use the == syntax.

Basic Query Parameters

# Single parameter
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get search==httpie

# Multiple parameters
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get search==httpie lang==en page==1

# URL encoding is automatic
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get query=="hello world" special=="chars!@#"

Arrays in Query Parameters

# Multiple values for same parameter
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get tags==javascript tags==web tags==api

# Results in: ?tags=javascript&tags=web&tags=api

Empty Values

# Empty parameter
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get empty==

# Null parameter (omitted)
dotnet-http httpbin.org/get param==null

HTTP Headers

Headers use the : syntax and control how requests are processed.

Common Headers

# Authorization
dotnet-http httpbin.org/headers Authorization:"Bearer jwt-token"

# Content-Type
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post Content-Type:"application/xml"

# User-Agent
dotnet-http httpbin.org/headers User-Agent:"MyApp/1.0"

# Accept
dotnet-http httpbin.org/headers Accept:"application/json, text/plain"

# API Keys
dotnet-http api.example.com/data X-API-Key:"your-api-key"

Custom Headers

# Multiple custom headers
dotnet-http api.example.com/webhook \
  X-Webhook-Source:"github" \
  X-Signature:"sha256=signature" \
  X-Event-Type:"push"

Header Values with Spaces

# Quote values containing spaces
dotnet-http httpbin.org/headers User-Agent:"My Application v1.0"

JSON Request Body

Simple JSON Fields

Using = creates JSON fields automatically:

dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post name=John email=john@example.com

# Generates:
# {
#   "name": "John",
#   "email": "john@example.com"
# }

Data Types

Strings (Default)

dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post title="Hello World" description="A test post"

Numbers

# Integers
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post age:=30 count:=100

# Floats
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post price:=19.99 rating:=4.5

Booleans

dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post active:=true verified:=false published:=true

Null Values

dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post middle_name:=null optional_field:=null

Arrays

# Array of strings
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post tags:='["javascript", "web", "api"]'

# Array of numbers
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post scores:='[95, 87, 92, 78]'

# Array of objects
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post items:='[{"id": 1, "name": "Item 1"}, {"id": 2, "name": "Item 2"}]'

Objects

# Nested objects
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post profile:='{"name": "John", "age": 30, "skills": ["C#", "JavaScript"]}'

# Complex nested structure
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post config:='{"database": {"host": "localhost", "port": 5432}, "features": {"auth": true, "cache": false}}'

Nested JSON Structures

Bracket Notation

# Nested objects using bracket notation
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post \
  user[name]=John \
  user[email]=john@example.com \
  user[address][street]="123 Main St" \
  user[address][city]=Seattle \
  user[address][zipcode]:=98101

# Generates:
# {
#   "user": {
#     "name": "John",
#     "email": "john@example.com",
#     "address": {
#       "street": "123 Main St",
#       "city": "Seattle",
#       "zipcode": 98101
#     }
#   }
# }

Array Elements

# Array with indexed elements
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post \
  items[0][name]=First \
  items[0][value]:=100 \
  items[1][name]=Second \
  items[1][value]:=200

# Generates:
# {
#   "items": [
#     {"name": "First", "value": 100},
#     {"name": "Second", "value": 200}
#   ]
# }

Form Data

URL-Encoded Forms

# Use --form flag for application/x-www-form-urlencoded
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --form name=John email=john@example.com

# Mixed with other options
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --form \
  name=John \
  age=30 \
  Authorization:"Bearer token"

Multipart Forms

# Use --multipart for multipart/form-data
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --multipart \
  name=John \
  file@/path/to/document.pdf

# Multiple files
dotnet-http POST httpbin.org/post --multipart \
  name=John \
  avatar@/path/to/avatar.jpg \
  resume@/path/to/resume.pdf

File Uploads

Send File as Body

# Send entire file as request body
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/upload @/path/to/data.json

# With content type
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/upload \
  Content-Type:"application/json" \
  @/path/to/data.json

File in Multipart Form

# File as form field
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/upload --multipart \
  description="My document" \
  file@/path/to/document.pdf

Multiple Files

dotnet-http POST api.example.com/batch-upload --multipart \
  batch_name="Document Batch" \
  doc1@/path/to/file1.pdf \
  doc2@/path/to/file2.pdf \
  metadata@/path/to/metadata.json

Raw Data

Raw String Data

# Send raw text
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/webhook \
  Content-Type:"text/plain" \
  --raw "This is raw text data"

# Raw JSON (alternative to field syntax)
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data \
  Content-Type:"application/json" \
  --raw '{"name": "John", "age": 30}'

# Raw XML
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/xml \
  Content-Type:"application/xml" \
  --raw '<user><name>John</name><age>30</age></user>'

Data from Stdin

# Pipe data from command
echo '{"message": "Hello"}' | dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data

# From file via stdin
cat data.json | dotnet-http POST api.example.com/upload

# From other tools
curl -s api.example.com/export | dotnet-http POST api.example.com/import

Data Type Examples

E-commerce API

# Create product
dotnet-http POST api.shop.com/products \
  Authorization:"Bearer token" \
  name="Laptop Computer" \
  description="High-performance laptop" \
  price:=999.99 \
  in_stock:=true \
  categories:='["electronics", "computers"]' \
  specifications:='{"cpu": "Intel i7", "ram": "16GB", "storage": "512GB SSD"}' \
  tags==electronics tags==computers

User Registration

# Complex user object
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users \
  personal[first_name]=John \
  personal[last_name]=Doe \
  personal[email]=john.doe@example.com \
  personal[phone]="+1-555-0123" \
  address[street]="123 Main Street" \
  address[city]=Seattle \
  address[state]=WA \
  address[zipcode]:=98101 \
  address[country]=USA \
  preferences[newsletter]:=true \
  preferences[notifications]:=false \
  role=user \
  active:=true

API Configuration

# Configuration update
dotnet-http PUT api.example.com/config \
  Authorization:"Bearer admin-token" \
  database[host]=localhost \
  database[port]:=5432 \
  database[ssl]:=true \
  cache[enabled]:=true \
  cache[ttl]:=3600 \
  features:='["auth", "logging", "monitoring"]' \
  limits[requests_per_minute]:=1000 \
  limits[max_file_size]:=10485760

Content-Type Handling

Automatic Content-Type

# JSON (default for field syntax)
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data name=John
# Content-Type: application/json

# Form data
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data --form name=John
# Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

# Multipart
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data --multipart name=John file@data.txt
# Content-Type: multipart/form-data

Manual Content-Type

# Override content type
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data \
  Content-Type:"application/vnd.api+json" \
  name=John age:=30

# XML content
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/data \
  Content-Type:"application/xml" \
  @data.xml

Advanced Data Handling

Conditional Fields

# Only include fields if they have values
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users \
  name=John \
  email=john@example.com \
  $([ "$PHONE" ] && echo "phone=$PHONE") \
  $([ "$COMPANY" ] && echo "company=$COMPANY")

Dynamic Values

# Use command substitution
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/events \
  timestamp:=$(date +%s) \
  uuid="$(uuidgen)" \
  hostname="$(hostname)"

Environment Variables

# Reference environment variables
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/deploy \
  Authorization:"Bearer $API_TOKEN" \
  version="$BUILD_VERSION" \
  environment="$DEPLOY_ENV"

Validation and Testing

Schema Validation

# Validate response against schema
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users \
  name=John \
  email=john@example.com \
  --schema user-schema.json

Response Testing

# Test specific fields in response
dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John | jq '.id != null'

# Combine with shell scripting
response=$(dotnet-http POST api.example.com/users name=John --body)
user_id=$(echo $response | jq -r '.id')
dotnet-http GET api.example.com/users/$user_id

Best Practices

Use appropriate data types - Numbers as :=123, booleans as :=true
Quote complex values - Especially JSON objects and arrays
Be consistent with naming - Use snake_case or camelCase consistently
Validate data structure - Use --offline to preview requests
Use files for large data - Avoid very long command lines
Consider security - Don't put sensitive data in command history
Use environment variables - For tokens and configuration
Test incrementally - Start simple and add complexity

Next Steps

Learn about authentication methods
Explore file execution for complex data scenarios
See examples for real-world usage patterns

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