Client

Vapor's client API allows you to make HTTP calls to external resources. It is built on async-http-client and integrates with the content API.

Overview

You can get access to the default client via Application or in a route handler via Request.

app.client // Client

app.get("test") { req in
    req.client // Client
}

The application's client is useful for making HTTP requests during configuration time. If you are making HTTP requests in a route handler, always use the request's client.

Methods

To make a GET request, pass the desired URL to the get convenience method.

let response = try await req.client.get("https://httpbin.org/status/200")

There are methods for each of the HTTP verbs like get, post, and delete. The client's response is returned as a future and contains the HTTP status, headers, and body.

Content

Vapor's content API is available for handling data in client requests and responses. To encode content, query parameters or add headers to the request, use the beforeSend closure.

let response = try await req.client.post("https://httpbin.org/status/200") { req in
    // Encode query string to the request URL.
    try req.query.encode(["q": "test"])

    // Encode JSON to the request body.
    try req.content.encode(["hello": "world"])

    // Add auth header to the request
    let auth = BasicAuthorization(username: "something", password: "somethingelse")
    req.headers.basicAuthorization = auth
}
// Handle the response.

You can also decode the response body using Content in a similar way:

let response = try await req.client.get("https://httpbin.org/json")
let json = try response.content.decode(MyJSONResponse.self)

If you're using futures you can use flatMapThrowing:

return req.client.get("https://httpbin.org/json").flatMapThrowing { res in
    try res.content.decode(MyJSONResponse.self)
}.flatMap { json in
    // Use JSON here
}

Configuration

You can configure the underlying HTTP client via the application.

// Disable automatic redirect following.
app.http.client.configuration.redirectConfiguration = .disallow

Note that you must configure the default client before using it for the first time.