Stream SSE responses and improve response body errors

AGENTS.md

@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@ metadata/update/DNS/TLS inspection modes, and executes requests via `src/http`.
 - Output-file downloads keep `*.download` temp files behind a drop guard so cancellation paths such as Ctrl-C clean up partial files; Unix atomic installs also sync the parent directory after rename/link updates for stronger crash durability.
 - Image rendering defaults (`auto`) use built-in Rust decoders only; external adapters (`vips`, `magick`, `ffmpeg`) require `--image external` or `image = external` and run with bounded stdin/stdout/stderr and timeout handling.
 - Response compression negotiation is controlled by `--compress auto|br|gzip|zstd|off` or `compress = ...`; `brotli` is accepted as an alias for `br`, `auto` requests and decodes gzip/brotli/zstd, single-algorithm modes only request/decode that algorithm, and `off` leaves compressed bodies untouched.
+- Formatted SSE responses stream incrementally to stdout with terminal color when enabled, rendering events as `event:`/`data:` blocks while formatting JSON data. Auto-compressed SSE responses are retried without `Accept-Encoding` so intermediaries do not buffer events; request timeouts from flags, curl commands, or config remain enforced.
+- Digest authentication retries drain oversized 401 challenge bodies with a fixed bound; on Windows, the authenticated retry is sent before the partially drained challenge response is dropped so the local TCP abort from abandoning the first response cannot poison the follow-up request.
 - `--sort-headers` or `sort-headers = true` sorts displayed request/response headers alphabetically by name in verbose output without changing the actual request header order.
 - Default HTTP requests send `Accept: application/json, */*;q=0.5`, preferring JSON while allowing any other response type as a lower-priority fallback.
 - `--basic` and `--digest` credentials preserve exact bytes around the first colon; leading/trailing spaces in usernames or passwords are significant and are not trimmed after CLI or `--from-curl` parsing.

docs/advanced-features.md

@@ -304,6 +304,10 @@ Compression modes:
 - `zstd` requests and decompresses zstd only
 - `off` sends no automatic `Accept-Encoding` header and leaves compressed response bodies untouched
 
+For SSE (`text/event-stream`) responses in `auto` mode, `fetch` retries without
+`Accept-Encoding` when the server replies with compressed content. This avoids
+common buffering behavior that prevents events from appearing as they arrive.
+
 Using `off` is useful when:
 
 - Testing compression behavior
@@ -385,6 +389,11 @@ The timeout covers:
 - Connection establishment
 - TLS handshake
 - Request/response transfer
+- Streamed response bodies such as SSE, NDJSON, and gRPC streams
+
+Timeouts from CLI flags, `--from-curl`, and configuration files are enforced for
+streaming responses. Omit `--timeout` or use a larger value for long-lived event
+streams.
 
 ### `--connect-timeout SECONDS`
 

docs/cli-reference.md

@@ -307,7 +307,9 @@ fetch --connect-timeout 5 --timeout 30 example.com
 
 ### `-t, --timeout SECONDS`
 
-Request timeout in seconds. Accepts decimal values.
+Request timeout in seconds. Accepts decimal values. The timeout covers the full
+request, including response body streaming; it is also enforced for SSE, NDJSON,
+and gRPC streams.
 
 ```sh
 fetch --timeout 30 example.com
@@ -465,6 +467,10 @@ Control response compression negotiation. Values: `auto`, `br`/`brotli`, `gzip`,
 - `zstd` - request zstd compression only
 - `off` - disable automatic compression negotiation and decompression
 
+In `auto` mode, compressed SSE (`text/event-stream`) responses are retried
+without `Accept-Encoding` so streaming events can be delivered promptly instead
+of being buffered by compression.
+
 ```sh
 fetch --compress br example.com
 fetch --compress gzip example.com

docs/configuration.md

@@ -293,7 +293,9 @@ connect-timeout = 2.5
 **Type**: Number (seconds)
 **Default**: None (no timeout)
 
-Set a timeout for HTTP requests. Accepts decimal values.
+Set a timeout for HTTP requests. Accepts decimal values. This timeout covers the
+full request, including streamed response bodies such as SSE, NDJSON, and gRPC
+streams.
 
 ```ini
 # 30 second timeout
@@ -491,6 +493,9 @@ compress = zstd
 compress = off
 ```
 
+When `compress = auto`, compressed SSE (`text/event-stream`) responses are
+retried without `Accept-Encoding` so events can be displayed as they arrive.
+
 ### Session Options
 
 #### `session`

docs/getting-started.md

@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ fetch httpbin.org/json | jq '.slideshow.title'
 - **YAML** - Syntax highlighted
 - **Images** - Rendered directly in supported terminals
 - **Protobuf / msgpack** - Decoded and displayed as JSON
-- **SSE / NDJSON** - Streamed line-by-line
+- **SSE / NDJSON** - Streamed as events or lines arrive
 
 See [Output Formatting](output-formatting.md) for details.
 

docs/output-formatting.md

@@ -236,7 +236,9 @@ See [gRPC documentation](grpc.md) for schema-aware formatting.
 Features:
 
 - Streaming output as events arrive
-- Event type and data parsing
+- SSE-shaped `event:` and `data:` output
+- JSON `data:` payloads are formatted and syntax-highlighted
+- Request timeouts still apply to long-running event streams
 
 ```sh
 fetch example.com/events
@@ -246,12 +248,17 @@ Output:
 
 ```
 event: message
-data: {"user": "john", "text": "Hello!"}
+data: { "text": "Hello!", "user": "john" }
 
 event: message
-data: {"user": "jane", "text": "Hi there!"}
+data: { "text": "Hi there!", "user": "jane" }
 ```
 
+When color is enabled, `event` and `data` labels are highlighted, and JSON values
+inside `data:` use the same syntax highlighting as JSON responses. In automatic
+compression mode, compressed SSE responses are retried without `Accept-Encoding`
+so proxies and servers are less likely to buffer events before delivery.
+
 ### NDJSON / JSON Lines
 
 **Content-Types**: `application/x-ndjson`, `application/ndjson`, `application/x-jsonl`, `application/jsonl`, `application/x-jsonlines`