What's Hurl?
Hurl is a command line tool that runs HTTP requests defined in a simple plain text format.
It can chain 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.
Hurl makes it easy to work with HTML content, REST / SOAP / GraphQL APIs, or any other XML / JSON based APIs.
# Get home:
GET https://example.org
HTTP 200
[Captures]
csrf_token: xpath "string(//meta[@name='_csrf_token']/@content)"
# Do login!
POST https://example.org/login?user=toto&password=1234
X-CSRF-TOKEN: {{csrf_token}}
HTTP 302
Chaining multiple requests is easy:
GET https://example.org/api/health
GET https://example.org/api/step1
GET https://example.org/api/step2
GET https://example.org/api/step3
Also an HTTP Test Tool
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://example.org/api/tests
{
"id": "4568",
"evaluate": true
}
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
header "X-Frame-Options" == "SAMEORIGIN"
jsonpath "$.status" == "RUNNING" # Check the status code
jsonpath "$.tests" count == 25 # Check the number of items
jsonpath "$.id" matches /\d{4}/ # Check the format of the id
HTML content
GET https://example.org
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
xpath "normalize-space(//head/title)" == "Hello world!"
GraphQL
POST https://example.org/graphql
```graphql
{
human(id: "1000") {
name
height(unit: FOOT)
}
}
```
HTTP 200
and even SOAP APIs
POST https://example.org/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="https://example.org">
<soap:Header></soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetStockPrice>
<m:StockName>GOOG</m:StockName>
</m:GetStockPrice>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
HTTP 200
Hurl can also be used to test the performance of HTTP endpoints
GET https://example.org/api/v1/pets
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
duration < 1000 # Duration in ms
And check response bytes
GET https://example.org/data.tar.gz
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
sha256 == hex,039058c6f2c0cb492c533b0a4d14ef77cc0f78abccced5287d84a1a2011cfb81;
Finally, Hurl is easy to integrate in CI/CD, with text, JUnit and HTML reports
Why Hurl?
- 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
Powered by curl
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 libraries. With its text file format, Hurl adds syntactic sugar to run and test HTTP requests, but it's still the curl that we love.
Feedbacks
To support its development, star Hurl on GitHub!
Feedback, suggestion, bugs or improvements are welcome.
POST https://hurl.dev/api/feedback
{
"name": "John Doe",
"feedback": "Hurl is awesome!"
}
HTTP 200
Resources
Table of Contents
- Samples
- Manual
- Installation
Samples
To run a sample, edit a file with the sample content, and run Hurl:
$ vi sample.hurl
GET https://example.org
$ hurl sample.hurlBy default, Hurl behaves like curl and outputs the last HTTP response's entry. To have a test
oriented output, you can use --test option:
$ hurl --test sample.hurlYou can check Hurl tests suite for more samples.
Getting Data
A simple GET:
GET https://example.org
HTTP Headers
A simple GET with headers:
GET https://example.org/news
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0
Accept: */*
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
Connection: keep-alive
Query Params
GET https://example.org/news
[QueryStringParams]
order: newest
search: something to search
count: 100
Or:
GET https://example.org/news?order=newest&search=something%20to%20search&count=100
Basic Authentication
GET https://example.org/protected
[BasicAuth]
bob: secret
This is equivalent to construct the request with a Authorization header:
# Authorization header value can be computed with `echo -n 'bob:secret' | base64`
GET https://example.org/protected
Authorization: Basic Ym9iOnNlY3JldA==
Basic authentication allows per request authentication.
If you want to add basic authentication to all the requests of a Hurl file
you could use -u/--user option.
Sending Data
Sending HTML Form Data
POST https://example.org/contact
[FormParams]
default: false
token: {{token}}
email: [email protected]
number: 33611223344
Sending Multipart Form Data
POST https://example.org/upload
[MultipartFormData]
field1: value1
field2: file,example.txt;
# One can specify the file content type:
field3: file,example.zip; application/zip
Multipart forms can also be sent with a multiline string body:
POST https://example.org/upload
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary="boundary"
```
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="key1"
value1
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="upload1"; filename="data.txt"
Content-Type: text/plain
Hello World!
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="upload2"; filename="data.html"
Content-Type: text/html
<div>Hello <b>World</b>!</div>
--boundary--
```
In that case, files have to be inlined in the Hurl file.
Posting a JSON Body
With an inline JSON:
POST https://example.org/api/tests
{
"id": "456",
"evaluate": true
}
With a local file:
POST https://example.org/api/tests
Content-Type: application/json
file,data.json;
Templating a JSON Body
PUT https://example.org/api/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 a_string=apple \
--variable a_bool=true \
--variable a_null=null \
--variable a_number=42 \
test.hurlResulting in a PUT request with the following JSON body:
{
"key0": "apple",
"key1": true,
"key2": null,
"key3": 42
}
Templating a XML Body
Using templates with XML body is not currently supported in Hurl. You can use templates in XML multiline string body with variables to send a variable XML body:
POST https://example.org/echo/post/xml
```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Request>
<Login>{{login}}</Login>
<Password>{{password}}</Password>
</Request>
```
Using GraphQL Query
A simple GraphQL query:
POST https://example.org/starwars/graphql
```graphql
{
human(id: "1000") {
name
height(unit: FOOT)
}
}
```
A GraphQL query with variables:
POST https://example.org/starwars/graphql
```graphql
query Hero($episode: Episode, $withFriends: Boolean!) {
hero(episode: $episode) {
name
friends @include(if: $withFriends) {
name
}
}
}
variables {
"episode": "JEDI",
"withFriends": false
}
```
GraphQL queries can also use Hurl templates.
Testing Response
Testing Response Headers
Use implicit response asserts to test header values:
GET https://example.org/index.html
HTTP 200
Set-Cookie: theme=light
Set-Cookie: sessionToken=abc123; Expires=Wed, 09 Jun 2021 10:18:14 GMT
Or use explicit response asserts with predicates:
GET https://example.org
HTTP 302
[Asserts]
header "Location" contains "www.example.net"
Testing REST APIs
Asserting JSON body response (node values, collection count etc...) with JSONPath:
GET https://example.org/order
screencapability: low
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.validated" == true
jsonpath "$.userInfo.firstName" == "Franck"
jsonpath "$.userInfo.lastName" == "Herbert"
jsonpath "$.hasDevice" == false
jsonpath "$.links" count == 12
jsonpath "$.state" != null
jsonpath "$.order" matches "^order-\\d{8}$"
jsonpath "$.order" matches /^order-\d{8}$/ # Alternative syntax with regex literal
Testing status code:
GET https://example.org/order/435
HTTP 200
GET https://example.org/order/435
# Testing status code is in a 200-300 range
HTTP *
[Asserts]
status >= 200
status < 300
Testing HTML Response
GET https://example.org
HTTP 200
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
[Asserts]
xpath "string(/html/head/title)" contains "Example" # Check title
xpath "count(//p)" == 2 # Check the number of p
xpath "//p" count == 2 # Similar assert for p
xpath "boolean(count(//h2))" == false # Check there is no h2
xpath "//h2" not exists # Similar assert for h2
xpath "string(//div[1])" matches /Hello.*/
Testing Set-Cookie Attributes
GET https://example.org/home
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
cookie "JSESSIONID" == "8400BAFE2F66443613DC38AE3D9D6239"
cookie "JSESSIONID[Value]" == "8400BAFE2F66443613DC38AE3D9D6239"
cookie "JSESSIONID[Expires]" contains "Wed, 13 Jan 2021"
cookie "JSESSIONID[Secure]" exists
cookie "JSESSIONID[HttpOnly]" exists
cookie "JSESSIONID[SameSite]" == "Lax"
Testing Bytes Content
Check the SHA-256 response body hash:
GET https://example.org/data.tar.gz
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
sha256 == hex,039058c6f2c0cb492c533b0a4d14ef77cc0f78abccced5287d84a1a2011cfb81;
SSL Certificate
Check the properties of a SSL certificate:
GET https://example.org
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
certificate "Subject" == "CN=example.org"
certificate "Issuer" == "C=US, O=Let's Encrypt, CN=R3"
certificate "Expire-Date" daysAfterNow > 15
certificate "Serial-Number" matches /[\da-f]+/
Others
HTTP Version
Testing HTTP version (1.0, 1.1 or 2):
GET https://example.org/order/435
HTTP/2 200
Polling and Retry
Retry request on any errors (asserts, captures, status code, runtime etc...):
# Create a new job
POST https://api.example.org/jobs
HTTP 201
[Captures]
job_id: jsonpath "$.id"
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.state" == "RUNNING"
# Pull job status until it is completed
GET https://api.example.org/jobs/{{job_id}}
[Options]
retry: 10 # maximum number of retry, -1 for unlimited
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.state" == "COMPLETED"
Testing Endpoint Performance
GET https://sample.org/helloworld
HTTP *
[Asserts]
duration < 1000 # Check that response time is less than one second
Using SOAP APIs
POST https://example.org/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="https://example.org">
<soap:Header></soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetStockPrice>
<m:StockName>GOOG</m:StockName>
</m:GetStockPrice>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
HTTP 200
Capturing and Using a CSRF Token
GET https://example.org
HTTP 200
[Captures]
csrf_token: xpath "string(//meta[@name='_csrf_token']/@content)"
POST https://example.org/login?user=toto&password=1234
X-CSRF-TOKEN: {{csrf_token}}
HTTP 302
Checking Byte Order Mark (BOM) in Response Body
GET https://example.org/data.bin
HTTP 200
[Asserts]
bytes startsWith hex,efbbbf;
Manual
Name
hurl - run and test HTTP requests.
Synopsis
hurl [options] [FILE...]
Description
Hurl is a command line tool that runs HTTP requests defined in a simple plain text format.
It can chain requests, capture values and evaluate queries on headers and body response. Hurl is very versatile, it can be used for fetching data and testing HTTP sessions: HTML content, REST / SOAP / GraphQL APIs, or any other XML / JSON based APIs.
$ hurl session.hurlIf 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. To have output go to a file, use the -o, --output option:
$ hurl -o output input.hurlBy default, Hurl executes all HTTP requests and outputs the response body of the last HTTP call.
To have a test oriented output, you can use --test option:
$ hurl --test *.hurlHurl File Format
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.org/endpoint1
GET http:/example.org/endpoint2
Capturing values
A value from an HTTP response can be-reused for successive HTTP requests.
A typical example occurs with CSRF tokens.
GET https://example.org
HTTP 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.org/login?user=toto&password=1234
X-CSRF-TOKEN: {{csrf_token}}
More information on captures can be found here https://hurl.dev/docs/capturing-response.html
Asserts
The HTTP response defined in the Hurl file are used to make asserts. Responses are optional.
At the minimum, response includes assert on the HTTP status code.
GET http:/example.org
HTTP 301
It can also include asserts on the response headers
GET http:/example.org
HTTP 301
Location: http://www.example.org
Explicit asserts can be included by combining a query and a predicate
GET http:/example.org
HTTP 301
[Asserts]
xpath "string(//title)" == "301 Moved"
With the addition of asserts, Hurl can be used as a testing tool to run scenarios.
More information on asserts can be found here https://hurl.dev/docs/asserting-response.html
Options
Options that exist in curl have exactly the same semantics.
Options specified on the command line are defined for every Hurl file's entry.
For instance:
$ hurl --location foo.hurlwill follow redirection for each entry in foo.hurl. You can also define an option only for a particular entry with an [Options] section. For instance, this Hurl file:
GET https://example.org
HTTP 301
GET https://example.org
[Options]
location: true
HTTP 200
will follow a redirection only for the second entry.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--cacert <FILE> |
Specifies the certificate file for peer verification. The file may contain multiple CA certificates and must be in PEM format. Normally Hurl is built to use a default file for this, so this option is typically used to alter that default file. |
-E, --cert <CERTIFICATE[:PASSWORD]> |
Client certificate file and password. See also --key. |
--color |
Colorize debug output (the HTTP response output is not colorized). |
--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. |
--connect-to <HOST1:PORT1:HOST2:PORT2> |
For a request to the given HOST1:PORT1 pair, connect to HOST2:PORT2 instead. This option can be used several times in a command line. See also --resolve. |
-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. |
-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. |
--error-format <FORMAT> |
Control the format of error message (short by default or long) |
--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 file system 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. |
-L, --location |
Follow redirect. To limit the amount of redirects to follow use the --max-redirs option |
--glob <GLOB> |
Specify input files that match the given glob pattern. Multiple glob flags may be used. This flag supports common Unix glob patterns like *, ? and []. However, to avoid your shell accidentally expanding glob patterns before Hurl handles them, you must use single quotes or double quotes around each pattern. |
-i, --include |
Include the HTTP headers in the output (last entry). |
--ignore-asserts |
Ignore all asserts defined in the Hurl file. |
-k, --insecure |
This option explicitly allows Hurl to perform "insecure" SSL connections and transfers. |
--interactive |
Stop between requests. This is similar to a break point, You can then continue (Press C) or quit (Press Q). |
--json |
Output each hurl file result to JSON. The format is very closed to HAR format. |
--key <KEY> |
Private key file name. |
--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. |
-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. |
--no-color |
Do not colorize output. |
--no-output |
Suppress output. By default, Hurl outputs the body of the last response. |
--noproxy <HOST(S)> |
Comma-separated list of hosts which do not use a proxy. Override value from Environment variable no_proxy. |
-o, --output <FILE> |
Write output to FILE instead of stdout. |
--path-as-is |
Tell Hurl to not handle sequences of /../ or /./ in the given URL path. Normally Hurl will squash or merge them according to standards but with this option set you tell it not to do that. |
-x, --proxy <[PROTOCOL://]HOST[:PORT]> |
Use the specified proxy. |
--report-junit <FILE> |
Generate JUnit File. If the FILE report already exists, it will be updated with the new test results. |
--report-html <DIR> |
Generate HTML report in DIR. If the HTML report already exists, it will be updated with the new test results. |
--resolve <HOST:PORT:ADDR> |
Provide a custom address for a specific host and port pair. Using this, you can make the Hurl requests(s) use a specified address and prevent the otherwise normally resolved address to be used. Consider it a sort of /etc/hosts alternative provided on the command line. |
--retry <NUM> |
Maximum number of retries, 0 for no retries, -1 for unlimited retries. Retry happens if any error occurs (asserts, captures, runtimes etc...). |
--retry-interval <MILLISECONDS> |
Duration in milliseconds between each retry. Default is 1000 ms. |
--ssl-no-revoke |
(Windows) This option tells Hurl to disable certificate revocation checks. WARNING: this option loosens the SSL security, and by using this flag you ask for exactly that. |
--test |
Activate test mode: with this, the HTTP response is not outputted anymore, progress is reported for each Hurl file tested, and a text summary is displayed when all files have been run. |
--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. |
-u, --user <USER:PASSWORD> |
Add basic Authentication header to each request. |
-A, --user-agent <NAME> |
Specify the User-Agent string to send to the HTTP server. |
--variable <NAME=VALUE> |
Define variable (name/value) to be used in Hurl templates. |
--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. |
--very-verbose |
Turn on more verbose output on standard error stream. In contrast to --verbose option, this option outputs the full HTTP body request and response on standard error. In addition, lines starting with '**' are libcurl debug logs. |
-h, --help |
Usage help. This lists all current command line options with a short description. |
-V, --version |
Prints version information |
Environment
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. |
HURL_name value |
Define variable (name/value) to be used in Hurl templates. This is similar than --variable and --variables-file options. |
NO_COLOR |
When set to a non-empty string, do not colorize output (see --no-color option). |
Exit Codes
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
0 |
Success. |
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. |
WWW
See Also
curl(1) hurlfmt(1)
Installation
Binaries Installation
Linux
Precompiled binary is available at hurl-4.0.0-x86_64-linux.tar.gz:
$ INSTALL_DIR=/tmp
$ curl -silent --location https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases/download/4.0.0/hurl-4.0.0-x86_64-linux.tar.gz | tar xvz -C $INSTALL_DIR
$ export PATH=$INSTALL_DIR/hurl-4.0.0:$PATHDebian / Ubuntu
For Debian / Ubuntu, Hurl can be installed using a binary .deb file provided in each Hurl release.
$ curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl/releases/download/4.0.0/hurl_4.0.0_amd64.deb
$ sudo apt update && apt install ./hurl_4.0.0_amd64.debArch Linux / Manjaro
hurl-bin package for Arch Linux and derived distros is available via AUR.
NixOS / Nix
NixOS / Nix package is available on stable channel.
macOS
Precompiled binary is available at hurl-4.0.0-x86_64-macos.tar.gz for x86 CPUs and hurl-4.0.0-arm64-macos.tar.gz for ARM CPUS.
Homebrew
$ brew install hurlMacPorts
$ sudo port install hurlFreeBSD
$ sudo pkg install hurlWindows
Zip File
Hurl can be installed from a standalone zip file hurl-4.0.0-win64.zip. You will need to update your PATH variable.
Installer
An installer hurl-4.0.0-win64-installer.exe is also available.
Chocolatey
$ choco install hurlScoop
$ scoop install hurlWindows Package Manager
$ winget install hurlCargo
If you're a Rust programmer, Hurl can be installed with cargo.
$ cargo install hurlDocker
$ docker pull ghcr.io/orange-opensource/hurl:latestnpm
$ npm install --save-dev @orangeopensource/hurlBuilding From Sources
Hurl sources are available in GitHub.
Build on Linux
Hurl depends on libssl, libcurl and libxml2 native libraries. You will need their development files in your platform.
Debian based distributions
$ apt install -y build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libxml2-devRed Hat based distributions
$ yum install -y pkg-config gcc openssl-devel libxml2-develArch based distributions
$ pacman -Sy --noconfirm pkgconf gcc glibc openssl libxml2Build on macOS
$ xcode-select --install
$ brew install pkg-configHurl 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 --versionThen build hurl:
$ git clone https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hurl
$ cd hurl
$ cargo build --release
$ ./target/release/hurl --versionBuild on Windows
Please follow the contrib on Windows section.