net in electron7: impossible to set a Host header in requests

[arantes555]

Preflight Checklist

• I have read the Contributing Guidelines for this project.
• I agree to follow the Code of Conduct that this project adheres to.
• I have searched the issue tracker for an issue that matches the one I want to file, without success.

Issue Details

• Electron Version:
  • 7.1.1
• Operating System:
  • All
• Last Known Working Electron version:
  • 6.1.4

Expected Behavior

When creating a request with net, it should be possible to set the Host header arbitrarily.

Actual Behavior

On electron >= 7, trying to set the Host header throws an net::ERR_INVALID_ARGUMENT error.

To Reproduce

$ git clone https://github.com/arantes555/electron-bug-net-host-header.git
$ npm install
$ npm start

Additional Information

When running this, we can see that in electron@6 all requests succeed. On electron@7 however, all requests that set a
Host header fail with said error.

This problem makes it impossible to explicitly set the Host, which is normal in a web context, but does not make sense
in this case since requests are not done by a webpage.

I feel I have to point out that this one is in not at all a critical issue. It's just that it's a breaking change and that it is a restriction that does not really make sense.

[vladimiry]

Probably related issues #20923 / #20730 and a fix #21099.

[VerteDinde]

@arantes555 Thanks for reporting this issue! We did a bit of digging here to see what the issue was - it looks like this would require a patch to Chromium directly, since this was introduced upstream, but we've added more information to the docs on what headers are restricted and why. If this is a blocker for you, let us know and we can reopen this issue.

[arantes555]

@VerteDinde thanks for your answer !

No, as I said in my original report, I do not consider this to be a critical issue, it is not a blocker for me.

It was just a seemingly random breaking change that I couldn't understand when upgrading to electron@7. It's OK to just close it.

However, you did mention adding it to the docs, and I cannot seem to find it on the docs for net ( https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/api/client-request.md ). Could you please point me to where it is documented ?

[VerteDinde]

@arantes555 Sure thing! I added it to the setHeaderpart of the docs specifically, here: https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/api/client-request.md#requestsetheadername-value

If you think it would be more helpful somewhere else, though, just let me know, happy to make the change so it's easier to find.

[arantes555]

@VerteDinde Sorry, looks like I missed it yesterday 🤦 It looks like the logical place for that information ! Thanks

[danniel-isiah-libor]

Hi @VerteDinde I would also be happy if we can add Host to our headers. Cheers!