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HTTP Client CLI

Last modified: 17 April 2025

In addition to the IntelliJ IDEA plugin, the HTTP Client is also available as a CLI tool. It allows you to run HTTP requests from a terminal, without the IDE, or include HTTP request testing in your CI workflow. The HTTP Client CLI does not require you to have the Ultimate license.

tip

SSL configuration and OAuth 2.0 authorization are currently not supported in the HTTP Client CLI. You can track the progress of these features in their respective tasks: IJPL-69643 and IJPL-69639.

Install HTTP Client CLI

You can get the HTTP Client CLI in the following ways:

  • To get the HTTP Client CLI as a Docker image, pull the image:

    docker pull jetbrains/intellij-http-client

    Check the version in the image: docker run --rm -i -t -v $PWD:/workdir jetbrains/intellij-http-client --version

  • To get a ZIP archive, download it from our site or use cURL:

    curl -f -L -o ijhttp.zip "https://jb.gg/ijhttp/latest"

    tip

    The ZIP distribution requires JDK 17 or newer to be installed.

    Check the installed version: ./ijhttp --version

  • On macOS and Linux, you can also install it using Homebrew:

    brew install ijhttp

    Check the installed version: ijhttp --version

Run HTTP request

  1. Create an .http request file. Your file can contain multiple HTTP, WebSocket, and GraphQL requests if you want to run all of them at once.

  2. Run HTTP Client CLI:

    Pass the file name to the ./ijhttp command, for example:

    ./ijhttp myrequest.http

The command output contains information about the requests that have been sent, test statuses, and environment variables.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2025.1/http_client_cli.png
Gif

Change log level

By default, the HTTP Client CLI outputs only the information about the requests that have been sent and the environment variables. You can change the log level by using the -L option.

  • Use -L HEADERS to log information on the request and response headers.

  • Or use -L VERBOSE to log information on the request and response headers and body.

Save response to file

  • If you want to save an HTTP response to a separate file, add >> or >>! in your .http file (see also Redirect the response). For example:

    GET https://example.org/get

>> myFolder/myFile.json

  • If you want to save output from HTTP Client CLI, use standard terminal commands, such as >. For example:

    ./ijhttp rest-api.http > yourFile.txt

    The level of detail in the saved HTTP Client CLI output depends on the specified log level.

Resolve localhost in Docker

If you have a server running on your host machine, and you run HTTP requests in the Docker container, you may need to resolve localhost to the localhost of your host machine.

  • Use the -D option, for example:

    docker run --rm -i -t -v $PWD:/workdir jetbrains/intellij-http-client -D run.http

    tip

    If you use Docker-for-Linux 20.10.0+, you should also add the --add-host host.docker.internal:host-gateway option to the command:

    docker run --rm -i -t -v $PWD:/workdir --add-host host.docker.internal:host-gateway jetbrains/intellij-http-client -D run.http

This way, requests intended for localhost will be sent to the localhost of your host machine.

Environment variables

Just like in the IntelliJ IDEA HTTP Client, you can use environment variables in your HTTP requests. You use variables from HTTP environment files, or you can pass variable values directly in the CLI command.

Use public environment variables

  • Use the --env-file option to specify a path to the variable file and --env to specify the name of an environment. For example:

    ./ijhttp --env-file http-client.env.json --env dev rest-api.http

  • Alternatively, pass the variable value in the -V option. If you want to pass multiple variables, repeat the -V option:

    ijhttp -V host=localhost:8080 -V planet=tatooine rest-api.http

You can combine both options:

./ijhttp --env-file http-client.env.json --env dev -V host=localhost:8080 rest-api.http

Use private environment variables

  • Use the --private-env-file option to specify a path to the variable file and --env to specify the name of an environment. For example:

    ./ijhttp --private-env-file http-client.private.env.json --env dev rest-api.http

  • You can also pass the variable value in the -P option. If you want to pass multiple variables, repeat the -P option:

    ijhttp -P password=mypassword123 -P user=johndoe rest-api.http

You can combine both options:

./ijhttp --private-env-file http-client.private.env.json --env dev -P password=mypassword123 rest-api.http

Test requests

Just like in the HTTP Client plugin, your .http file may contain a response handler script written in JavaScript ES6. You can use it to test HTTP requests with the client.assert method.

Use response handler script

  • In your .http file, skip one line from the request and write your response handler script enclosed in > {% ... %}. For example:

    GET https://httpbin.org/get

> {%
    client.test("Test status code", function() {
        client.assert(response.status === 200, "Response status is not 200");
    });
%}

    note

    Use IntelliJ IDEA to get syntax highlighting and completion for the response handler script.

You can also include a test from a separate file. The path to the file can be either absolute or relative to your .http file:

GET https://httpbin.org/get

> /path/to/responseHandler.js

Save test report in JUnit XML format

The HTTP Client can provide output in the JUnit XML format.

  • Add the --report argument to the ijhttp command, for example:

    ./ijhttp test.http --report

The HTTP Client CLI saves the report in the report.xml file under the reports directory.