Hurl is a command line tool that runs HTTP requests defined in a simple plain text format.
It can perform requests, capture values and evaluate queries on headers and body response. Hurl is very versatile: it can be used for both fetching data and testing HTTP sessions.
# Get home:
GET https://example.net
HTTP/1.1 200
[Captures]
csrf_token: xpath "string(//meta[@name='_csrf_token']/@content)"
# Do login!
POST https://example.net/login?user=toto&password=1234
X-CSRF-TOKEN: {{csrf_token}}
HTTP/1.1 302
Chaining multiple requests is easy:
GET https://api.example.net/health
GET https://api.example.net/step1
GET https://api.example.net/step2
GET https://api.example.net/step3
Hurl can run HTTP requests but can also be used to test HTTP responses. Different types of queries and predicates are supported, from XPath and JSONPath on body response, to assert on status code and response headers.
It is well adapted for REST / JSON apis
POST https://api.example.net/tests
{
"id": "456",
"evaluate": true
}
HTTP/1.1 200
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.status" == "RUNNING" # Check the status code
jsonpath "$.tests" count == 25 # Check the number of items
HTML content
GET https://example.net
HTTP/1.1 200
[Asserts]
xpath "normalize-space(//head/title)" == "Hello world!"
and even SOAP apis
POST https://example.net/InStock
Content-Type: application/soap+xml; charset=utf-8
SOAPAction: "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns:m="http://www.example.org">
<soap:Header></soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetStockPrice>
<m:StockName>GOOG</m:StockName>
</m:GetStockPrice>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
HTTP/1.1 200
Hurl can also be used to test HTTP endpoints performances:
GET http://api.example.org/v1/pets
HTTP/1.0 200
[Asserts]
duration < 1000 # Duration in ms
And responses bytes content
GET http://example.org/data.tar.gz
HTTP/1.0 200
[Asserts]
sha256 == hex,039058c6f2c0cb492c533b0a4d14ef77cc0f78abccced5287d84a1a2011cfb81;
- Text Format: for both devops and developers
- Fast CLI: a command line for local dev and continuous integration
- Single Binary: easy to install, with no runtime required
Hurl is a lightweight binary written in Rust. Under the hood, Hurl HTTP engine is powered by libcurl, one of the most powerful and reliable file transfer library. With its text file format, Hurl adds syntactic sugar to run and tests HTTP requests, but it's still the curl that we love.
Hurl file format and runners are still in beta, any feedback, suggestion, bugs or improvements are welcome.
POST https://hurl.dev/api/feedback
{
"name": "John Doe",
"feedback": "Hurl is awesome !"
}
HTTP/1.1 200
To run a sample, you can edit a file with the sample content, and use Hurl:
$ vi sample.hurl
GET https://example.net
$ hurl sample.hurl
A simple GET:
GET https://example.net
A simple GET with headers:
GET https://example.net/news
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0
Accept: */*
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
Connection: keep-alive
GET https://example.net/news
[QueryStringParams]
order: newest
search: something to search
count: 100
Or:
GET https://example.net/news?order=newest&search=something%20to%20search&count=100
POST https://example.net/contact
[FormParams]
default: false
token: {{token}}
email: john.doe@rookie.org
number: 33611223344
POST https://example.net/upload
[MultipartFormData]
field1: value1
field2: file,example.txt;
# On can specify the file content type:
field3: file,example.zip; application/zip
With an inline JSON:
POST https://api.example.net/tests
{
"id": "456",
"evaluate": true
}
With a local file:
POST https://api.example.net/tests
Content-Type: application/json
file,data.json;
Using templates with JSON body or XML body is not currently supported in Hurl. Besides, you can use templates in raw string body with variables to send a JSON or XML body:
PUT https://api.example.net/hits
Content-Type: application/json
```
{
"key0": "{{a_string}}",
"key1": {{a_bool}},
"key2": {{a_null}},
"key3": {{a_number}}
}
```
Variables can be initialized via command line:
$ hurl --variable key0=apple \
--variable key1=true \
--variable key2=null \
--variable key3=42 \
test.hurlResulting in a PUT request with the following JSON body:
{
"key0": "apple",
"key1": true,
"key2": null,
"key3": 42
}
Use implicit response asserts to test header values:
GET http://www.example.org/index.html
HTTP/1.0 200
Set-Cookie: theme=light
Set-Cookie: sessionToken=abc123; Expires=Wed, 09 Jun 2021 10:18:14 GMT
Or use explicit response asserts with predicates:
GET https://example.net
HTTP/1.1 302
[Asserts]
header "Location" contains "www.example.net"
Asserting JSON body response with JSONPath:
GET https//example.org/order
screencapability: low
HTTP/1.1 200
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.validated" == true
jsonpath "$.userInfo.firstName" == "Franck"
jsonpath "$.userInfo.lastName" == "Herbert"
jsonpath "$.hasDevice" == false
jsonpath "$.links" count == 12
jsonpath "$.state" != null
Testing status code:
GET https//example.org/order/435
HTTP/1.1 200
GET https//example.org/order/435
# Testing status code is in a 200-300 range
HTTP/1.1 *
[Asserts]
status >= 200
status < 300
GET https://example.com
HTTP/1.1 200
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
[Asserts]
xpath "string(/html/head/title)" contains "Example" # Check title
xpath "count(//p)" == 2 # Check the number of p
xpath "//p" count == 2 # Similar assert for p
xpath "boolean(count(//h2))" == false # Check there is no h2
xpath "//h2" not exists # Similar assert for h2
GET http://myserver.com/home
HTTP/1.0 200
[Asserts]
cookie "JSESSIONID" == "8400BAFE2F66443613DC38AE3D9D6239"
cookie "JSESSIONID[Value]" == "8400BAFE2F66443613DC38AE3D9D6239"
cookie "JSESSIONID[Expires]" contains "Wed, 13 Jan 2021"
cookie "JSESSIONID[Secure]" exists
cookie "JSESSIONID[HttpOnly]" exists
cookie "JSESSIONID[SameSite]" == "Lax"
GET https://sample.org/helloworld
HTTP/* *
[Asserts]
duration < 1000 # Check that response time is less than one second
POST https://example.net/InStock
Content-Type: application/soap+xml; charset=utf-8
SOAPAction: "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns:m="http://www.example.org">
<soap:Header></soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetStockPrice>
<m:StockName>GOOG</m:StockName>
</m:GetStockPrice>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
HTTP/1.1 200
GET https://example.net
HTTP/* 200
[Captures]
csrf_token: xpath "string(//meta[@name='_csrf_token']/@content)"
POST https://example.net/login?user=toto&password=1234
X-CSRF-TOKEN: {{csrf_token}}
HTTP/* 302
GET https://example.net/data.bin
HTTP/* 200
[Asserts]
bytes startsWith hex,efbbbf;
hurl - run and test HTTP requests.
hurl [options] [FILE...]
Hurl is an HTTP client that performs HTTP requests defined in a simple plain text format.
Hurl is very versatile, it enables to chain HTTP requests, capture values from HTTP responses and make asserts.
$ hurl session.hurl
If no input-files are specified, input is read from stdin.
$ echo GET http://httpbin.org/get | hurl
{
"args": {},
"headers": {
"Accept": "*/*",
"Accept-Encoding": "gzip",
"Content-Length": "0",
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "hurl/0.99.10",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-5eedf4c7-520814d64e2f9249ea44e0"
},
"origin": "1.2.3.4",
"url": "http://httpbin.org/get"
}
Output goes to stdout by default. For output to a file, use the -o option:
$ hurl -o output input.hurl
By default, Hurl executes all HTTP requests and outputs the response body of the last HTTP call.
The Hurl file format is fully documented in https://hurl.dev/docs/hurl-file.html
It consists of one or several HTTP requests
GET http:/example.net/endpoint1
GET http:/example.net/endpoint2
A value from an HTTP response can be-reused for successive HTTP requests.
A typical example occurs with csrf tokens.
GET https://example.net
HTTP/1.1 200
# Capture the CSRF token value from html body.
[Captures]
csrf_token: xpath "normalize-space(//meta[@name='_csrf_token']/@content)"
# Do the login !
POST https://example.net/login?user=toto&password=1234
X-CSRF-TOKEN: {{csrf_token}}
The HTTP response defined in the Hurl session are used to make asserts.
At the minimum, the response includes the asserts on the HTTP version and status code.
GET http:/google.com
HTTP/1.1 302
It can also include asserts on the response headers
GET http:/google.com
HTTP/1.1 302
Location: http://www.google.com
You can also include explicit asserts combining query and predicate
GET http:/google.com
HTTP/1.1 302
[Asserts]
xpath "//title" == "301 Moved"
Thanks to asserts, Hurl can be used as a testing tool to run scenarii.
Options that exist in curl have exactly the same semantic.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--color |
Colorize Output |
-b, --cookie <file> |
Read cookies from file (using the Netscape cookie file format). Combined with -c, --cookie-jar, you can simulate a cookie storage between successive Hurl runs. |
--cacert |
Tells curl to use the specified certificate file to verify the peer. The file may contain multiple CA certificates. The certificate(s) must be in PEM format. Normally curl is built to use a default file for this, so this option is typically used to alter that default file. |
--compressed |
Request a compressed response using one of the algorithms br, gzip, deflate and automatically decompress the content. |
--connect-timeout <seconds> |
Maximum time in seconds that you allow Hurl's connection to take. See also -m, --max-time option. |
-c, --cookie-jar <file> |
Write cookies to FILE after running the session (only for one session). The file will be written using the Netscape cookie file format. Combined with -b, --cookie, you can simulate a cookie storage between successive Hurl runs. |
--fail-at-end |
Continue executing requests to the end of the Hurl file even when an assert error occurs. By default, Hurl exits after an assert error in the HTTP response. Note that this option does not affect the behavior with multiple input Hurl files. All the input files are executed independently. The result of one file does not affect the execution of the other Hurl files. |
--file-root <dir> |
Set root filesystem to import files in Hurl. This is used for both files in multipart form data and request body. When this is not explicitly defined, the files are relative to the current directory in which Hurl is running. |
-h, --help |
Usage help. This lists all current command line options with a short description. |
--html <dir> |
Generate html report in dir. If the html report already exists, it will be updated with the new test results. |
--ignore-asserts |
Ignore all asserts defined in the Hurl file. |
-i, --include |
Include the HTTP headers in the output (last entry). |
--interactive |
Stop between requests. This is similar to a break point, You can then continue (Press C) or quit (Press Q). |
--json <file> |
Write full session(s) to a json file. The format is very closed to HAR format. If the json file already exists, the file will be updated with the new test results. |
-k, --insecure |
This option explicitly allows Hurl to perform "insecure" SSL connections and transfers. |
-L, --location |
Follow redirect. You can limit the amount of redirects to follow by using the --max-redirs option. |
-m, --max-time <seconds> |
Maximum time in seconds that you allow a request/response to take. This is the standard timeout. See also --connect-timeout option. |
--max-redirs <num> |
Set maximum number of redirection-followings allowed By default, the limit is set to 50 redirections. Set this option to -1 to make it unlimited. |
--no-color |
Do not colorize Output |
--noproxy <no-proxy-list> |
Comma-separated list of hosts which do not use a proxy. Override value from Environment variable no_proxy. |
--to-entry <entry-number> |
Execute Hurl file to ENTRY_NUMBER (starting at 1). Ignore the remaining of the file. It is useful for debugging a session. |
-o, --output <file> |
Write output to instead of stdout. |
--progress |
Print filename and status for each test |
--summary |
Print test metrics at the end of the run |
--test |
Activate test mode; equals --output /dev/null --progress --summary |
-x, --proxy [protocol://]host[:port] |
Use the specified proxy. |
-u, --user <user:password> |
Add basic Authentication header to each request. |
--variable <name=value> |
Define variable (name/value) to be used in Hurl templates. Only string values can be defined. |
--variables-file <file> |
Set properties file in which your define your variables. Each variable is defined as name=value exactly as with --variable option. Note that defining a variable twice produces an error. |
-v, --verbose |
Turn on verbose output on standard error stream Useful for debugging. A line starting with '>' means data sent by Hurl. A line staring with '<' means data received by Hurl. A line starting with '*' means additional info provided by Hurl. If you only want HTTP headers in the output, -i, --include might be the option you're looking for. |
-V, --version |
Prints version information |
Environment variables can only be specified in lowercase.
Using an environment variable to set the proxy has the same effect as using the -x, --proxy option.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
http_proxy [protocol://]<host>[:port] |
Sets the proxy server to use for HTTP. |
https_proxy [protocol://]<host>[:port] |
Sets the proxy server to use for HTTPS. |
all_proxy [protocol://]<host>[:port] |
Sets the proxy server to use if no protocol-specific proxy is set. |
no_proxy <comma-separated list of hosts> |
list of host names that shouldn't go through any proxy. |
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
1 |
Failed to parse command-line options. |
2 |
Input File Parsing Error. |
3 |
Runtime error (such as failure to connect to host). |
4 |
Assert Error. |
curl(1) hurlfmt(1)
Precompiled binary is available at hurl-1.4.0-x86_64-linux.tar.gz:
INSTALL_DIR=/tmp
curl -sL https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases/download/1.4.0/hurl-1.4.0-x86_64-linux.tar.gz | tar xvz -C $INSTALL_DIR
export PATH=$INSTALL_DIR/hurl-1.4.0:$PATH
hurl --version
hurl 1.4.0For Debian / Ubuntu, Hurl can be installed using a binary .deb file provided in each Hurl release.
curl -LO https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases/download/1.4.0/hurl_1.4.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i hurl_1.4.0_amd64.debhurl-bin package for Arch Linux and derived distros are available via AUR.
Precompiled binary is available at hurl-1.4.0-x86_64-osx.tar.gz.
Hurl can also be installed with Homebrew:
brew tap jcamiel/hurl
brew install hurl
hurl --version
hurl 1.4.0Hurl can be installed from a standalone zip file hurl-1.4.0-win64.zip. You will need to update your PATH variable.
An installer hurl-1.4.0-win64-installer.exe is also available.
If you're a Rust programmer, Hurl can be installed with cargo.
cargo install hurl
Hurl sources are available in GitHub.
Hurl depends on libssl, libcurl and libxml2 native libraries. You will need their development files in your platform.
# debian based distributions
apt install -y pkg-config libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libxml2-dev
# redhat based distributions
yum install -y pkg-config gcc openssl-devel libxml2-devel
# arch based distributions
pacman -Sy --noconfirm pkgconf gcc openssl libxml2Hurl is written in Rust. You should install the latest stable release.
curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y
source $HOME/.cargo/env
rustc --version
cargo --versionBuild
git clone https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl
cd hurl
cargo build --release
./target/release/hurl --versionPlease follow the contrib on Windows section.