ESP HTTP Client

Overview

esp_http_client provides an API for making HTTP/S requests from ESP-IDF applications. The steps to use this API are as follows:

  • esp_http_client_init(): Creates an esp_http_client_config_t instance i.e. a HTTP client handle based on the given esp_http_client_config_t configuration. This function must be the first to be called; default values will be assumed for the configuration values that are not explicitly defined by the user.

  • esp_http_client_perform(): Performs all operations of the esp_http_client - opening the connection, exchanging data and closing the connection (as required), while blocking the current task until its completion. All related events will be invoked through the event handler (as specified in esp_http_client_config_t).

  • esp_http_client_cleanup(): Closes the connection (if any) and frees up all the memory allocated to the HTTP client instance. This must be the last function to be called after the completion of operations.

Application Example

Simple example that uses ESP HTTP Client to make HTTP/S requests at protocols/esp_http_client.

Basic HTTP request

Check out the example functions http_rest_with_url and http_rest_with_hostname_path in the application example for implementation details.

Persistent Connections

Persistent connection means that the HTTP client can re-use the same connection for several exchanges. If the server does not request to close the connection with the Connection: close header, the connection is not dropped but is instead kept open and used for further requests.

To allow ESP HTTP client to take full advantage of persistent connections, one should make as many requests as possible using the same handle instance.

Check out the example functions http_rest_with_url and http_rest_with_hostname_path in the application example. Here, once the connection is created, multiple requests (GET, POST, PUT, etc.) are made before the connection is closed.

HTTPS Request

ESP HTTP client supports SSL connections using mbedTLS, with the url configuration starting with https scheme or transport_type set to HTTP_TRANSPORT_OVER_SSL. HTTPS support can be configured via CONFIG_ESP_HTTP_CLIENT_ENABLE_HTTPS (enabled by default).

Note

While making HTTPS requests, if server verification is needed, additional root certificate (in PEM format) needs to be provided to the cert_pem member in esp_http_client_config_t configuration. Users can also use the ESP x509 Certificate Bundle for server verification using the crt_bundle_attach member of the esp_http_client_config_t configuration.

Check out the example functions https_with_url and https_with_hostname_path in the application example. (Implementation details of the above note are found here)

HTTP Stream

Some applications need to open the connection and control the exchange of data actively (data streaming). In such cases, the application flow is different from regular requests. Example flow is given below:

Check out the example function http_perform_as_stream_reader in the application example for implementation details.

HTTP Authentication

ESP HTTP client supports both Basic and Digest Authentication.
  • Users can provide the username and password in the url or the username and password members of the esp_http_client_config_t configuration. For auth_type = HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_BASIC, the HTTP client takes only 1 perform operation to pass the authentication process.

  • If auth_type = HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_NONE, but the username and password fields are present in the configuration, the HTTP client takes 2 perform operations. The client will receive the 401 Unauthorized header in its first attempt to connect to the server. Based on this information, it decides which authentication method to choose and performs it in the second operation.

  • Check out the example functions http_auth_basic, http_auth_basic_redirect (for Basic authentication) and http_auth_digest (for Digest authentication) in the application example for implementation details.

Examples of Authentication Configuration

  • Authentication with URI

    esp_http_client_config_t config = {
        .url = "http://user:passwd@httpbin.org/basic-auth/user/passwd",
        .auth_type = HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_BASIC,
    };
    
  • Authentication with username and password entry

    esp_http_client_config_t config = {
        .url = "http://httpbin.org/basic-auth/user/passwd",
        .username = "user",
        .password = "passwd",
        .auth_type = HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_BASIC,
    };
    

API Reference

Header File

Functions

esp_http_client_handle_t esp_http_client_init(const esp_http_client_config_t *config)

Start a HTTP session This function must be the first function to call, and it returns a esp_http_client_handle_t that you must use as input to other functions in the interface. This call MUST have a corresponding call to esp_http_client_cleanup when the operation is complete.

Parameters

config[in] The configurations, see http_client_config_t

Returns

  • esp_http_client_handle_t

  • NULL if any errors

esp_err_t esp_http_client_perform(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Invoke this function after esp_http_client_init and all the options calls are made, and will perform the transfer as described in the options. It must be called with the same esp_http_client_handle_t as input as the esp_http_client_init call returned. esp_http_client_perform performs the entire request in either blocking or non-blocking manner. By default, the API performs request in a blocking manner and returns when done, or if it failed, and in non-blocking manner, it returns if EAGAIN/EWOULDBLOCK or EINPROGRESS is encountered, or if it failed. And in case of non-blocking request, the user may call this API multiple times unless request & response is complete or there is a failure. To enable non-blocking esp_http_client_perform(), is_async member of esp_http_client_config_t must be set while making a call to esp_http_client_init() API. You can do any amount of calls to esp_http_client_perform while using the same esp_http_client_handle_t. The underlying connection may be kept open if the server allows it. If you intend to transfer more than one file, you are even encouraged to do so. esp_http_client will then attempt to reuse the same connection for the following transfers, thus making the operations faster, less CPU intense and using less network resources. Just note that you will have to use esp_http_client_set_** between the invokes to set options for the following esp_http_client_perform.

Note

You must never call this function simultaneously from two places using the same client handle. Let the function return first before invoking it another time. If you want parallel transfers, you must use several esp_http_client_handle_t. This function include esp_http_client_open -> esp_http_client_write -> esp_http_client_fetch_headers -> esp_http_client_read (and option) esp_http_client_close.

Parameters

client – The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • ESP_OK on successful

  • ESP_FAIL on error

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_url(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *url)

Set URL for client, when performing this behavior, the options in the URL will replace the old ones.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • url[in] The url

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_post_field(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *data, int len)

Set post data, this function must be called before esp_http_client_perform. Note: The data parameter passed to this function is a pointer and this function will not copy the data.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • data[in] post data pointer

  • len[in] post length

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

int esp_http_client_get_post_field(esp_http_client_handle_t client, char **data)

Get current post field information.

Parameters
  • client[in] The client

  • data[out] Point to post data pointer

Returns

Size of post data

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_header(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *key, const char *value)

Set http request header, this function must be called after esp_http_client_init and before any perform function.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • key[in] The header key

  • value[in] The header value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_get_header(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *key, char **value)

Get http request header. The value parameter will be set to NULL if there is no header which is same as the key specified, otherwise the address of header value will be assigned to value parameter. This function must be called after esp_http_client_init.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • key[in] The header key

  • value[out] The header value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_get_username(esp_http_client_handle_t client, char **value)

Get http request username. The address of username buffer will be assigned to value parameter. This function must be called after esp_http_client_init.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • value[out] The username value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_username(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *username)

Set http request username. The value of username parameter will be assigned to username buffer. If the username parameter is NULL then username buffer will be freed.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • username[in] The username value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

esp_err_t esp_http_client_get_password(esp_http_client_handle_t client, char **value)

Get http request password. The address of password buffer will be assigned to value parameter. This function must be called after esp_http_client_init.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • value[out] The password value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_password(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *password)

Set http request password. The value of password parameter will be assigned to password buffer. If the password parameter is NULL then password buffer will be freed.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • password[in] The password value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_authtype(esp_http_client_handle_t client, esp_http_client_auth_type_t auth_type)

Set http request auth_type.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • auth_type[in] The esp_http_client auth type

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

int esp_http_client_get_errno(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Get HTTP client session errno.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • (-1) if invalid argument

  • errno

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_method(esp_http_client_handle_t client, esp_http_client_method_t method)

Set http request method.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • method[in] The method

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_timeout_ms(esp_http_client_handle_t client, int timeout_ms)

Set http request timeout.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • timeout_ms[in] The timeout value

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

esp_err_t esp_http_client_delete_header(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *key)

Delete http request header.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • key[in] The key

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_open(esp_http_client_handle_t client, int write_len)

This function will be open the connection, write all header strings and return.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • write_len[in] HTTP Content length need to write to the server

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

int esp_http_client_write(esp_http_client_handle_t client, const char *buffer, int len)

This function will write data to the HTTP connection previously opened by esp_http_client_open()

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • buffer – The buffer

  • len[in] This value must not be larger than the write_len parameter provided to esp_http_client_open()

Returns

  • (-1) if any errors

  • Length of data written

int64_t esp_http_client_fetch_headers(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

This function need to call after esp_http_client_open, it will read from http stream, process all receive headers.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • (0) if stream doesn’t contain content-length header, or chunked encoding (checked by esp_http_client_is_chunked response)

  • (-1: ESP_FAIL) if any errors

  • (-ESP_ERR_HTTP_EAGAIN = -0x7007) if call is timed-out before any data was ready

  • Download data length defined by content-length header

bool esp_http_client_is_chunked_response(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Check response data is chunked.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

true or false

int esp_http_client_read(esp_http_client_handle_t client, char *buffer, int len)

Read data from http stream.

Note

(-ESP_ERR_HTTP_EAGAIN = -0x7007) is returned when call is timed-out before any data was ready

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • buffer – The buffer

  • len[in] The length

Returns

  • (-1) if any errors

  • Length of data was read

int esp_http_client_get_status_code(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Get http response status code, the valid value if this function invoke after esp_http_client_perform

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

Status code

int64_t esp_http_client_get_content_length(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Get http response content length (from header Content-Length) the valid value if this function invoke after esp_http_client_perform

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • (-1) Chunked transfer

  • Content-Length value as bytes

esp_err_t esp_http_client_close(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Close http connection, still kept all http request resources.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_cleanup(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

This function must be the last function to call for an session. It is the opposite of the esp_http_client_init function and must be called with the same handle as input that a esp_http_client_init call returned. This might close all connections this handle has used and possibly has kept open until now. Don’t call this function if you intend to transfer more files, re-using handles is a key to good performance with esp_http_client.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_http_client_transport_t esp_http_client_get_transport_type(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Get transport type.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • HTTP_TRANSPORT_UNKNOWN

  • HTTP_TRANSPORT_OVER_TCP

  • HTTP_TRANSPORT_OVER_SSL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_set_redirection(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Set redirection URL. When received the 30x code from the server, the client stores the redirect URL provided by the server. This function will set the current URL to redirect to enable client to execute the redirection request. When disable_auto_redirect is set, the client will not call this function but the event HTTP_EVENT_REDIRECT will be dispatched giving the user control over the redirection event.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_reset_redirect_counter(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Reset the redirection counter. This is useful to reset redirect counter in cases where the same handle is used for multiple requests.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG

void esp_http_client_add_auth(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

On receiving HTTP Status code 401, this API can be invoked to add authorization information.

Note

There is a possibility of receiving body message with redirection status codes, thus make sure to flush off body data after calling this API.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

bool esp_http_client_is_complete_data_received(esp_http_client_handle_t client)

Checks if entire data in the response has been read without any error.

Parameters

client[in] The esp_http_client handle

Returns

  • true

  • false

int esp_http_client_read_response(esp_http_client_handle_t client, char *buffer, int len)

Helper API to read larger data chunks This is a helper API which internally calls esp_http_client_read multiple times till the end of data is reached or till the buffer gets full.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • buffer – The buffer

  • len[in] The buffer length

Returns

  • Length of data was read

esp_err_t esp_http_client_flush_response(esp_http_client_handle_t client, int *len)

Process all remaining response data This uses an internal buffer to repeatedly receive, parse, and discard response data until complete data is processed. As no additional user-supplied buffer is required, this may be preferable to esp_http_client_read_response in situations where the content of the response may be ignored.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • len – Length of data discarded

Returns

  • ESP_OK If successful, len will have discarded length

  • ESP_FAIL If failed to read response

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG If the client is NULL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_get_url(esp_http_client_handle_t client, char *url, const int len)

Get URL from client.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • url[inout] The buffer to store URL

  • len[in] The buffer length

Returns

  • ESP_OK

  • ESP_FAIL

esp_err_t esp_http_client_get_chunk_length(esp_http_client_handle_t client, int *len)

Get Chunk-Length from client.

Parameters
  • client[in] The esp_http_client handle

  • len[out] Variable to store length

Returns

  • ESP_OK If successful, len will have length of current chunk

  • ESP_FAIL If the server is not a chunked server

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG If the client or len are NULL

Structures

struct esp_http_client_event

HTTP Client events data.

Public Members

esp_http_client_event_id_t event_id

event_id, to know the cause of the event

esp_http_client_handle_t client

esp_http_client_handle_t context

void *data

data of the event

int data_len

data length of data

void *user_data

user_data context, from esp_http_client_config_t user_data

char *header_key

For HTTP_EVENT_ON_HEADER event_id, it’s store current http header key

char *header_value

For HTTP_EVENT_ON_HEADER event_id, it’s store current http header value

struct esp_http_client_config_t

HTTP configuration.

Public Members

const char *url

HTTP URL, the information on the URL is most important, it overrides the other fields below, if any

const char *host

Domain or IP as string

int port

Port to connect, default depend on esp_http_client_transport_t (80 or 443)

const char *username

Using for Http authentication

const char *password

Using for Http authentication

esp_http_client_auth_type_t auth_type

Http authentication type, see esp_http_client_auth_type_t

const char *path

HTTP Path, if not set, default is /

const char *query

HTTP query

const char *cert_pem

SSL server certification, PEM format as string, if the client requires to verify server

size_t cert_len

Length of the buffer pointed to by cert_pem. May be 0 for null-terminated pem

const char *client_cert_pem

SSL client certification, PEM format as string, if the server requires to verify client

size_t client_cert_len

Length of the buffer pointed to by client_cert_pem. May be 0 for null-terminated pem

const char *client_key_pem

SSL client key, PEM format as string, if the server requires to verify client

size_t client_key_len

Length of the buffer pointed to by client_key_pem. May be 0 for null-terminated pem

const char *client_key_password

Client key decryption password string

size_t client_key_password_len

String length of the password pointed to by client_key_password

esp_http_client_proto_ver_t tls_version

TLS protocol version of the connection, e.g., TLS 1.2, TLS 1.3 (default - no preference)

const char *user_agent

The User Agent string to send with HTTP requests

esp_http_client_method_t method

HTTP Method

int timeout_ms

Network timeout in milliseconds

bool disable_auto_redirect

Disable HTTP automatic redirects

int max_redirection_count

Max number of redirections on receiving HTTP redirect status code, using default value if zero

int max_authorization_retries

Max connection retries on receiving HTTP unauthorized status code, using default value if zero. Disables authorization retry if -1

http_event_handle_cb event_handler

HTTP Event Handle

esp_http_client_transport_t transport_type

HTTP transport type, see esp_http_client_transport_t

int buffer_size

HTTP receive buffer size

int buffer_size_tx

HTTP transmit buffer size

void *user_data

HTTP user_data context

bool is_async

Set asynchronous mode, only supported with HTTPS for now

bool use_global_ca_store

Use a global ca_store for all the connections in which this bool is set.

bool skip_cert_common_name_check

Skip any validation of server certificate CN field

esp_err_t (*crt_bundle_attach)(void *conf)

Function pointer to esp_crt_bundle_attach. Enables the use of certification bundle for server verification, must be enabled in menuconfig

bool keep_alive_enable

Enable keep-alive timeout

int keep_alive_idle

Keep-alive idle time. Default is 5 (second)

int keep_alive_interval

Keep-alive interval time. Default is 5 (second)

int keep_alive_count

Keep-alive packet retry send count. Default is 3 counts

struct ifreq *if_name

The name of interface for data to go through. Use the default interface without setting

Macros

DEFAULT_HTTP_BUF_SIZE
ESP_ERR_HTTP_BASE

Starting number of HTTP error codes

ESP_ERR_HTTP_MAX_REDIRECT

The error exceeds the number of HTTP redirects

ESP_ERR_HTTP_CONNECT

Error open the HTTP connection

ESP_ERR_HTTP_WRITE_DATA

Error write HTTP data

ESP_ERR_HTTP_FETCH_HEADER

Error read HTTP header from server

ESP_ERR_HTTP_INVALID_TRANSPORT

There are no transport support for the input scheme

ESP_ERR_HTTP_CONNECTING

HTTP connection hasn’t been established yet

ESP_ERR_HTTP_EAGAIN

Mapping of errno EAGAIN to esp_err_t

ESP_ERR_HTTP_CONNECTION_CLOSED

Read FIN from peer and the connection closed

Type Definitions

typedef struct esp_http_client *esp_http_client_handle_t
typedef struct esp_http_client_event *esp_http_client_event_handle_t
typedef struct esp_http_client_event esp_http_client_event_t

HTTP Client events data.

typedef esp_err_t (*http_event_handle_cb)(esp_http_client_event_t *evt)

Enumerations

enum esp_http_client_event_id_t

HTTP Client events id.

Values:

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_ERROR

This event occurs when there are any errors during execution

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_ON_CONNECTED

Once the HTTP has been connected to the server, no data exchange has been performed

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_HEADERS_SENT

After sending all the headers to the server

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_HEADER_SENT

This header has been kept for backward compatibility and will be deprecated in future versions esp-idf

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_ON_HEADER

Occurs when receiving each header sent from the server

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_ON_DATA

Occurs when receiving data from the server, possibly multiple portions of the packet

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_ON_FINISH

Occurs when finish a HTTP session

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_DISCONNECTED

The connection has been disconnected

enumerator HTTP_EVENT_REDIRECT

Intercepting HTTP redirects to handle them manually

enum esp_http_client_transport_t

HTTP Client transport.

Values:

enumerator HTTP_TRANSPORT_UNKNOWN

Unknown

enumerator HTTP_TRANSPORT_OVER_TCP

Transport over tcp

enumerator HTTP_TRANSPORT_OVER_SSL

Transport over ssl

enum esp_http_client_proto_ver_t

Values:

enumerator ESP_HTTP_CLIENT_TLS_VER_ANY
enumerator ESP_HTTP_CLIENT_TLS_VER_TLS_1_2
enumerator ESP_HTTP_CLIENT_TLS_VER_TLS_1_3
enumerator ESP_HTTP_CLIENT_TLS_VER_MAX
enum esp_http_client_method_t

HTTP method.

Values:

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_GET

HTTP GET Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_POST

HTTP POST Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_PUT

HTTP PUT Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_PATCH

HTTP PATCH Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_DELETE

HTTP DELETE Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_HEAD

HTTP HEAD Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_NOTIFY

HTTP NOTIFY Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_SUBSCRIBE

HTTP SUBSCRIBE Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_UNSUBSCRIBE

HTTP UNSUBSCRIBE Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_OPTIONS

HTTP OPTIONS Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_COPY

HTTP COPY Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_MOVE

HTTP MOVE Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_LOCK

HTTP LOCK Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_UNLOCK

HTTP UNLOCK Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_PROPFIND

HTTP PROPFIND Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_PROPPATCH

HTTP PROPPATCH Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_MKCOL

HTTP MKCOL Method

enumerator HTTP_METHOD_MAX
enum esp_http_client_auth_type_t

HTTP Authentication type.

Values:

enumerator HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_NONE

No authention

enumerator HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_BASIC

HTTP Basic authentication

enumerator HTTP_AUTH_TYPE_DIGEST

HTTP Digest authentication

enum HttpStatus_Code

Enum for the HTTP status codes.

Values:

enumerator HttpStatus_Ok
enumerator HttpStatus_MultipleChoices
enumerator HttpStatus_MovedPermanently
enumerator HttpStatus_Found
enumerator HttpStatus_SeeOther
enumerator HttpStatus_TemporaryRedirect
enumerator HttpStatus_PermanentRedirect
enumerator HttpStatus_BadRequest
enumerator HttpStatus_Unauthorized
enumerator HttpStatus_Forbidden
enumerator HttpStatus_NotFound
enumerator HttpStatus_InternalError