HTTP Client CLI

In addition to the JetBrains Rider 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.

Install HTTP Client CLI

You can get the HTTP Client CLI as a Docker image or as a ZIP archive.

To get the HTTP Client CLI as a Docker image, pull the image:
docker pull jetbrains/intellij-http-client
To get a ZIP archive, use cURL:
curl -f -L -o ijhttp.zip "https://jb.gg/ijhttp/latest"
The ZIP distribution requires JDK 17 to be installed.

When the HTTP Client CLI is downloaded, you can run ./ijhttp to get the list of available arguments. Run ./ijhttp --version to check the version of the HTTP Client CLI.

Run HTTP request

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.
Support for gRPC requests will be added to HTTP Client CLI version 2023.3.
Run HTTP Client CLI:
Pass the file name to the ./ijhttp command, for example:
./ijhttp myrequest.http
Run a container with the .http file:
docker run --rm -i -t -v $PWD:/workdir jetbrains/intellij-http-client run.http
This command creates a bind mount between your current working directory on the host machine ($PWD) and the workdir directory in the container.
Note that /workdir is required in this command: All .http files will be run inside this directory in the container.

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

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
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 JetBrains Rider 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"); }); %}
Use JetBrains Rider 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.

Last modified: 13 July 2023