Net::HTTP

Class

Class Net::HTTP provides a rich library that implements the client in a client-server model that uses the HTTP request-response protocol. For information about HTTP, see

Note: If you are performing only a few GET requests, consider using OpenURI; otherwise, read on.

Synopsis

If you are already familiar with HTTP, this synopsis may be helpful.

Session with multiple requests for HTTP methods:

Net::HTTP.start(hostname) do |http|
  # Session started automatically before block execution.
  http.get(path_or_uri, headers = {})
  http.head(path_or_uri, headers = {})
  http.post(path_or_uri, data, headers = {})  # Can also have a block.
  http.put(path_or_uri, data, headers = {})
  http.delete(path_or_uri, headers = {Depth: 'Infinity'})
  http.options(path_or_uri, headers = {})
  http.trace(path_or_uri, headers = {})
  http.patch(path_or_uri, data, headers = {}) # Can also have a block.
  # Session finished automatically at block exit.
end

Session with multiple requests for WebDAV methods:

Net::HTTP.start(hostname) do |http|
  # Session started automatically before block execution.
  http.copy(path_or_uri, headers = {})
  http.lock(path_or_uri, body, headers = {})
  http.mkcol(path_or_uri, body = nil, headers = {})
  http.move(path_or_uri, headers = {})
  http.propfind(path_or_uri, body = nil, headers = {'Depth' => '0'})
  http.proppatch(path_or_uri, body, headers = {})
  http.unlock(path_or_uri, body, headers = {})
  # Session finished automatically at block exit.
end

Each of the following methods automatically starts and finishes a session that sends a single request:

# Return string response body.
Net::HTTP.get(hostname, path, port = 80)
Net::HTTP.get(uri, headers = {}, port = 80)

# Write string response body to $stdout.
Net::HTTP.get_print(hostname, path_or_uri, port = 80)
Net::HTTP.get_print(uri, headers = {}, port = 80)

# Return response as Net::HTTPResponse object.
Net::HTTP.get_response(hostname, path_or_uri, port = 80)
Net::HTTP.get_response(uri, headers = {}, port = 80)

Net::HTTP.post(uri, data, headers = {})
Net::HTTP.post_form(uri, params)

About the Examples

URIs

On the internet, a URI (Universal Resource Identifier) is a string that identifies a particular resource. It consists of some or all of: scheme, hostname, path, query, and fragment; see URI syntax.

A Ruby URI::Generic object represents an internet URI. It provides, among others, methods scheme, hostname, path, query, and fragment.

Schemes

An internet URI has a scheme.

The two schemes supported in Net::HTTP are 'https' and 'http':

uri.scheme                       # => "https"
URI('http://example.com').scheme # => "http"

Hostnames

A hostname identifies a server (host) to which requests may be sent:

hostname = uri.hostname # => "jsonplaceholder.typicode.com"
Net::HTTP.start(hostname) do |http|
  # Some HTTP stuff.
end

Paths

A host-specific path identifies a resource on the host:

_uri = uri.dup
_uri.path = '/todos/1'
hostname = _uri.hostname
path = _uri.path
Net::HTTP.get(hostname, path)

Queries

A host-specific query adds name/value pairs to the URI:

_uri = uri.dup
params = {userId: 1, completed: false}
_uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)
_uri # => #<URI::HTTPS https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com?userId=1&completed=false>
Net::HTTP.get(_uri)

Fragments

A URI fragment has no effect in Net::HTTP; the same data is returned, regardless of whether a fragment is included.

Request Headers

Request headers may be used to pass additional information to the host, similar to arguments passed in a method call; each header is a name/value pair.

Each of the Net::HTTP methods that sends a request to the host has optional argument headers, where the headers are expressed as a hash of field-name/value pairs:

headers = {Accept: 'application/json', Connection: 'Keep-Alive'}
Net::HTTP.get(uri, headers)

See lists of both standard request fields and common request fields at Request Fields. A host may also accept other custom fields.

Sessions

A session is a connection between a server (host) and a client that:

See example sessions at the Synopsis.

Session Using Net::HTTP.start

If you have many requests to make to a single host (and port), consider using singleton method Net::HTTP.start with a block; the method handles the session automatically by:

  • Calling start before block execution.

  • Executing the block.

  • Calling finish after block execution.

In the block, you can use these instance methods, each of which that sends a single request:

Session Using Net::HTTP.start and Net::HTTP.finish

You can manage a session manually using methods start and finish:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.start
http.get('/todos/1')
http.get('/todos/2')
http.delete('/posts/1')
http.finish # Needed to free resources.

Single-Request Session

Certain convenience methods automatically handle a session by:

  • Creating an HTTP object

  • Starting a session.

  • Sending a single request.

  • Finishing the session.

  • Destroying the object.

Such methods that send GET requests:

Such methods that send POST requests:

HTTP Requests and Responses

Many of the methods above are convenience methods, each of which sends a request and returns a string without directly using Net::HTTPRequest and Net::HTTPResponse objects.

You can, however, directly create a request object, send the request, and retrieve the response object; see:

Following Redirection

Each Net::HTTPResponse object belongs to a class for its response code.

For example, all 2XX responses are instances of a Net::HTTPSuccess subclass, a 3XX response is an instance of a Net::HTTPRedirection subclass and a 200 response is an instance of the Net::HTTPOK class. For details of response classes, see the section “HTTP Response Classes” below.

Using a case statement you can handle various types of responses properly:

def fetch(uri_str, limit = 10)
  # You should choose a better exception.
  raise ArgumentError, 'too many HTTP redirects' if limit == 0

  response = Net::HTTP.get_response(URI(uri_str))

  case response
  when Net::HTTPSuccess then
    response
  when Net::HTTPRedirection then
    location = response['location']
    warn "redirected to #{location}"
    fetch(location, limit - 1)
  else
    response.value
  end
end

print fetch('http://www.ruby-lang.org')

Basic Authentication

Basic authentication is performed according to [RFC2617](www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617.txt).

uri = URI('http://example.com/index.html?key=value')

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req.basic_auth 'user', 'pass'

res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port) {|http|
  http.request(req)
}
puts res.body

Streaming Response Bodies

By default Net::HTTP reads an entire response into memory. If you are handling large files or wish to implement a progress bar you can instead stream the body directly to an IO.

uri = URI('http://example.com/large_file')

Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port) do |http|
  request = Net::HTTP::Get.new uri

  http.request request do |response|
    open 'large_file', 'w' do |io|
      response.read_body do |chunk|
        io.write chunk
      end
    end
  end
end

HTTPS

HTTPS is enabled for an HTTP connection by Net::HTTP#use_ssl=.

uri = URI('https://secure.example.com/some_path?query=string')

Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, :use_ssl => true) do |http|
  request = Net::HTTP::Get.new uri
  response = http.request request # Net::HTTPResponse object
end

Or if you simply want to make a GET request, you may pass in an URI object that has an HTTPS URL. Net::HTTP automatically turns on TLS verification if the URI object has a ‘https’ URI scheme.

uri = URI('https://example.com/')
Net::HTTP.get(uri) # => String

In previous versions of Ruby you would need to require ‘net/https’ to use HTTPS. This is no longer true.

Proxies

Net::HTTP will automatically create a proxy from the http_proxy environment variable if it is present. To disable use of http_proxy, pass nil for the proxy address.

You may also create a custom proxy:

proxy_addr = 'your.proxy.host'
proxy_port = 8080

Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, proxy_addr, proxy_port).start { |http|
  # always proxy via your.proxy.addr:8080
}

See Net::HTTP.new for further details and examples such as proxies that require a username and password.

Compression

Net::HTTP automatically adds Accept-Encoding for compression of response bodies and automatically decompresses gzip and deflate responses unless a Range header was sent.

Compression can be disabled through the Accept-Encoding: identity header.

Constants

SSL_IVNAMES

No documentation available

SSL_ATTRIBUTES

No documentation available

IDEMPOTENT_METHODS_

No documentation available

STATUS_CODES

No documentation available
Attributes

address

Read

The DNS host name or IP address to connect to.

port

Read

The port number to connect to.

local_host

Read & Write

The local host used to establish the connection.

local_port

Read & Write

The local port used to establish the connection.

response_body_encoding

Read

The encoding to use for the response body. If Encoding, uses the specified encoding. If other true value, tries to detect the response body encoding.

proxy_from_env

Write
No documentation available

proxy_address

Write
No documentation available

proxy_port

Write
No documentation available

proxy_user

Write
No documentation available

proxy_pass

Write
No documentation available

open_timeout

Read & Write

Number of seconds to wait for the connection to open. Any number may be used, including Floats for fractional seconds. If the HTTP object cannot open a connection in this many seconds, it raises a Net::OpenTimeout exception. The default value is 60 seconds.

read_timeout

Read

Number of seconds to wait for one block to be read (via one read(2) call). Any number may be used, including Floats for fractional seconds. If the HTTP object cannot read data in this many seconds, it raises a Net::ReadTimeout exception. The default value is 60 seconds.

write_timeout

Read

Number of seconds to wait for one block to be written (via one write(2) call). Any number may be used, including Floats for fractional seconds. If the HTTP object cannot write data in this many seconds, it raises a Net::WriteTimeout exception. The default value is 60 seconds. Net::WriteTimeout is not raised on Windows.

max_retries

Read
No documentation available

continue_timeout

Read

Seconds to wait for 100 Continue response. If the HTTP object does not receive a response in this many seconds it sends the request body. The default value is nil.

keep_alive_timeout

Read & Write

Seconds to reuse the connection of the previous request. If the idle time is less than this Keep-Alive Timeout, Net::HTTP reuses the TCP/IP socket used by the previous communication. The default value is 2 seconds.

ignore_eof

Read & Write

Whether to ignore EOF when reading response bodies with defined Content-Length headers. For backwards compatibility, the default is true.

close_on_empty_response

Read & Write
No documentation available

ca_file

Read & Write

Sets path of a CA certification file in PEM format.

The file can contain several CA certificates.

ca_path

Read & Write

Sets path of a CA certification directory containing certifications in PEM format.

cert

Read & Write

Sets an OpenSSL::X509::Certificate object as client certificate. (This method is appeared in Michal Rokos’s OpenSSL extension).

cert_store

Read & Write

Sets the X509::Store to verify peer certificate.

ciphers

Read & Write

Sets the available ciphers. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#ciphers=

extra_chain_cert

Read & Write

Sets the extra X509 certificates to be added to the certificate chain. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#extra_chain_cert=

key

Read & Write

Sets an OpenSSL::PKey::RSA or OpenSSL::PKey::DSA object. (This method is appeared in Michal Rokos’s OpenSSL extension.)

ssl_timeout

Read & Write

Sets the SSL timeout seconds.

ssl_version

Read & Write

Sets the SSL version. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#ssl_version=

min_version

Read & Write

Sets the minimum SSL version. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#min_version=

max_version

Read & Write

Sets the maximum SSL version. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#max_version=

verify_callback

Read & Write

Sets the verify callback for the server certification verification.

verify_depth

Read & Write

Sets the maximum depth for the certificate chain verification.

verify_mode

Read & Write

Sets the flags for server the certification verification at beginning of SSL/TLS session.

OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE or OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER are acceptable.

verify_hostname

Read & Write

Sets to check the server certificate is valid for the hostname. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#verify_hostname=

proxy_address

Read

Address of proxy host. If Net::HTTP does not use a proxy, nil.

proxy_port

Read

Port number of proxy host. If Net::HTTP does not use a proxy, nil.

proxy_user

Read

User name for accessing proxy. If Net::HTTP does not use a proxy, nil.

proxy_pass

Read

User password for accessing proxy. If Net::HTTP does not use a proxy, nil.

Class Methods

default_port
::

Returns intger 80, the default port to use for HTTP requests:

Net::HTTP.default_port # => 80

Net::HTTP.get(hostname, path, port = 80) → body

Net::HTTP:get(uri, headers = {}, port = uri.port) → body
::

Sends a GET request and returns the HTTP response body as a string.

With string arguments hostname and path:

hostname = 'jsonplaceholder.typicode.com'
path = '/todos/1'
puts Net::HTTP.get(hostname, path)

Output:

{
  "userId": 1,
  "id": 1,
  "title": "delectus aut autem",
  "completed": false
}

With URI object uri and optional hash argument headers:

uri = URI('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1')
headers = {'Content-type' => 'application/json; charset=UTF-8'}
Net::HTTP.get(uri, headers)

Related:

Net::HTTP.get_print(hostname, path, port = 80) → nil

Net::HTTP:get_print(uri, headers = {}, port = uri.port) → nil
::

Like Net::HTTP.get, but writes the returned body to $stdout; returns nil.

Net::HTTP.get_response(hostname, path, port = 80) → http_response

Net::HTTP:get_response(uri, headers = {}, port = uri.port) → http_response
::

Like Net::HTTP.get, but returns a Net::HTTPResponse object instead of the body string.

http_default_port
::

Returns integer 80, the default port to use for HTTP requests:

Net::HTTP.http_default_port # => 80

https_default_port
::

Returns integer 443, the default port to use for HTTPS requests:

Net::HTTP.https_default_port # => 443

new(address, port = nil, p_addr = :ENV, p_port = nil, p_user = nil, p_pass = nil, p_no_proxy = nil)
::

Returns a new Net::HTTP object http (but does not open a TCP connection or HTTP session).

No Proxy

With only string argument hostname given (and ENV['http_proxy'] undefined or nil), the returned http:

Example:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
# => #<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80 open=false>
http.address # => "jsonplaceholder.typicode.com"
http.port    # => 80
http.proxy?  # => false

With integer argument port also given, the returned http has the given port:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname, 8000)
# => #<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:8000 open=false>
http.port # => 8000

Proxy Using Argument p_addr as a String

When argument p_addr is a string hostname, the returned http has a proxy:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname, nil, 'proxy.example')
# => #<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80 open=false>
http.proxy?        # => true
http.proxy_address # => "proxy.example"
# These use default values.
http.proxy_port    # => 80
http.proxy_user    # => nil
http.proxy_pass    # => nil

The port, username, and password for the proxy may also be given:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname, nil, 'proxy.example', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass')
# => #<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80 open=false>
http.proxy?        # => true
http.proxy_address # => "proxy.example"
http.proxy_port    # => 8000
http.proxy_user    # => "pname"
http.proxy_pass    # => "ppass"

Proxy Using ENV['http_proxy']

When environment variable 'http_proxy' is set to a URI string, the returned http will have that URI as its proxy; note that the URI string must have a protocol such as 'http' or 'https':

ENV['http_proxy'] = 'http://example.com'
# => "http://example.com"
http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
# => #<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80 open=false>
http.proxy?        # => true
http.address       # => "jsonplaceholder.typicode.com"
http.proxy_address # => "example.com"

The URI string may include proxy username, password, and port number:

ENV['http_proxy'] = 'http://pname:ppass@example.com:8000'
# => "http://pname:ppass@example.com:8000"
http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
# => #<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80 open=false>
http.proxy_port # => 8000
http.proxy_user # => "pname"
http.proxy_pass # => "ppass"

Argument p_no_proxy

You can use argument p_no_proxy to reject certain proxies:

  • Reject a certain address:

    http = Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, 'proxy.example', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass', 'proxy.example')
http.proxy_address # => nil

  • Reject certain domains or subdomains:

    http = Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, 'my.proxy.example', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass', 'proxy.example')
http.proxy_address # => nil

  • Reject certain addresses and port combinations:

    http = Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, 'proxy.example', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass', 'proxy.example:1234')
http.proxy_address # => "proxy.example"

http = Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, 'proxy.example', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass', 'proxy.example:8000')
http.proxy_address # => nil

  • Reject a list of the types above delimited using a comma:

    http = Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, 'proxy.example', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass', 'my.proxy,proxy.example:8000')
http.proxy_address # => nil

http = Net::HTTP.new('example.com', nil, 'my.proxy', 8000, 'pname', 'ppass', 'my.proxy,proxy.example:8000')
http.proxy_address # => nil

post(url, data, header = nil)
::

Posts data to a host; returns a Net::HTTPResponse object.

Argument url must be a URL; argument data must be a string:

_uri = uri.dup
_uri.path = '/posts'
data = '{"title": "foo", "body": "bar", "userId": 1}'
headers = {'content-type': 'application/json'}
res = Net::HTTP.post(_uri, data, headers) # => #<Net::HTTPCreated 201 Created readbody=true>
puts res.body

Output:

{
  "title": "foo",
  "body": "bar",
  "userId": 1,
  "id": 101
}

Related:

post_form(url, params)
::

Posts data to a host; returns a Net::HTTPResponse object.

Argument url must be a URI; argument data must be a hash:

_uri = uri.dup
_uri.path = '/posts'
data = {title: 'foo', body: 'bar', userId: 1}
res = Net::HTTP.post_form(_uri, data) # => #<Net::HTTPCreated 201 Created readbody=true>
puts res.body

Output:

{
  "title": "foo",
  "body": "bar",
  "userId": "1",
  "id": 101
}

proxy_class?
::

returns true if self is a class which was created by HTTP::Proxy.

HTTP.start(address, port = nil, p_addr = :ENV, p_port = nil, p_user = nil, p_pass = nil, opts) → http

HTTP.start(address, port = nil, p_addr = :ENV, p_port = nil, p_user = nil, p_pass = nil, opts) {|http| ... } → object
::

Creates a new Net::HTTP object, http, via Net::HTTP.new:

Net::HTTP.new(address, port, p_addr, p_port, p_user, p_pass)

  • For arguments hostname through p_pass, see Net::HTTP.new.

  • For argument opts, see below.

Note: If port is nil and opts[:use_ssl] is a truthy value, the value passed to new is Net::HTTP.https_default_port, not port.

With no block given:

  • Calls http.start with no block (see start), which opens a TCP connection and HTTP session.

  • Returns http.

  • The caller should call finish to close the session:

    http = Net::HTTP.start(hostname)
http.started? # => true
http.finish
http.started? # => false

With a block given:

  • Calls http.start with the block (see start), which:

    • Opens a TCP connection and HTTP session.

    • Calls the block, which may make any number of requests to the host.

    • Closes the HTTP session and TCP connection on block exit.

    • Returns the block’s value object.

  • Returns object.

Example:

hostname = 'jsonplaceholder.typicode.com'
Net::HTTP.start(hostname) do |http|
  puts http.get('/todos/1').body
  puts http.get('/todos/2').body
end

Output:

{
  "userId": 1,
  "id": 1,
  "title": "delectus aut autem",
  "completed": false
}
{
  "userId": 1,
  "id": 2,
  "title": "quis ut nam facilis et officia qui",
  "completed": false
}

If the last argument given is a hash, it is the opts hash, where each key is a method or accessor to be called, and its value is the value to be set.

The keys may include:

version_1_2
::

Returns true; retained for compatibility.

version_1_2?
::

Returns true; retained for compatibility.

Instance Methods

D(msg)
#
An alias for debug

addr_port
#

utils

begin_transport(req)
#
No documentation available

connect
#
No documentation available

continue_timeout=(sec)
#

Setter for the continue_timeout attribute.

copy(path, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a COPY request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

debug(msg)
#

Adds a message to debugging output

delete(path, initheader = {'Depth' => 'Infinity'})
#

Sends a DELETE request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

do_finish
#
No documentation available

do_start
#
No documentation available

edit_path(path)
#
No documentation available

end_transport(req, res)
#
No documentation available

finish
#

Finishes the HTTP session and closes the TCP connection. Raises IOError if the session has not been started.

get(path, initheader = nil, dest = nil) { |body_segment| ... }
#

Retrieves data from path on the connected-to host which may be an absolute path String or a URI to extract the path from.

initheader must be a Hash like { ‘Accept’ => ‘/’, … }, and it defaults to an empty hash. If initheader doesn’t have the key ‘accept-encoding’, then a value of “gzip;q=1.0,deflate;q=0.6,identity;q=0.3” is used, so that gzip compression is used in preference to deflate compression, which is used in preference to no compression. Ruby doesn’t have libraries to support the compress (Lempel-Ziv) compression, so that is not supported. The intent of this is to reduce bandwidth by default. If this routine sets up compression, then it does the decompression also, removing the header as well to prevent confusion. Otherwise it leaves the body as it found it.

This method returns a Net::HTTPResponse object.

If called with a block, yields each fragment of the entity body in turn as a string as it is read from the socket. Note that in this case, the returned response object will not contain a (meaningful) body.

dest argument is obsolete. It still works but you must not use it.

This method never raises an exception.

response = http.get('/index.html')

# using block
File.open('result.txt', 'w') {|f|
  http.get('/~foo/') do |str|
    f.write str
  end
}

head(path, initheader = nil)
#

Gets only the header from path on the connected-to host. header is a Hash like { ‘Accept’ => ‘/’, … }.

This method returns a Net::HTTPResponse object.

This method never raises an exception.

response = nil
Net::HTTP.start('some.www.server', 80) {|http|
  response = http.head('/index.html')
}
p response['content-type']

inspect
#

Returns a string representation of self:

Net::HTTP.new(hostname).inspect
# => "#<Net::HTTP jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80 open=false>"

ipaddr
#

Returns the IP address for the connection.

If the session has not been started, returns the value set by ipaddr=, or nil if it has not been set:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.ipaddr # => nil
http.ipaddr = '172.67.155.76'
http.ipaddr # => "172.67.155.76"

If the session has been started, returns the IP address from the socket:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.start
http.ipaddr # => "172.67.155.76"
http.finish

ipaddr=(addr)
#

Sets the IP address for the connection:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.ipaddr # => nil
http.ipaddr = '172.67.155.76'
http.ipaddr # => "172.67.155.76"

The IP address may not be set if the session has been started.

keep_alive?(req, res)
#
No documentation available

lock(path, body, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a LOCK request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

max_retries=(retries)
#

Sets the maximum number of times to retry an idempotent request in case of Net::ReadTimeout, IOError, EOFError, Errno::ECONNRESET, Errno::ECONNABORTED, Errno::EPIPE, OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError, Timeout::Error. The initial value is 1.

Argument retries must be a non-negative numeric value:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.max_retries = 2   # => 2
http.max_retries       # => 2

mkcol(path, body = nil, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a MKCOL request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

move(path, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a MOVE request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

on_connect
#
No documentation available

options(path, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a OPTIONS request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

patch(path, data, initheader = nil, dest = nil) { |body_segment| ... }
#

Sends a PATCH request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

peer_cert
#

Returns the X.509 certificates the server presented.

post(path, data, initheader = nil, dest = nil) { |body_segment| ... }
#

Posts data (must be a String) to path. header must be a Hash like { ‘Accept’ => ‘/’, … }.

This method returns a Net::HTTPResponse object.

If called with a block, yields each fragment of the entity body in turn as a string as it is read from the socket. Note that in this case, the returned response object will not contain a (meaningful) body.

dest argument is obsolete. It still works but you must not use it.

This method never raises exception.

response = http.post('/cgi-bin/search.rb', 'query=foo')

# using block
File.open('result.txt', 'w') {|f|
  http.post('/cgi-bin/search.rb', 'query=foo') do |str|
    f.write str
  end
}

You should set Content-Type: header field for POST. If no Content-Type: field given, this method uses “application/x-www-form-urlencoded” by default.

propfind(path, body = nil, initheader = {'Depth' => '0'})
#

Sends a PROPFIND request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

proppatch(path, body, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a PROPPATCH request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

proxy?
#

True if requests for this connection will be proxied

proxy_address
#

The address of the proxy server, if one is configured.

proxy_from_env?
#

True if the proxy for this connection is determined from the environment

proxy_pass
#

The password of the proxy server, if one is configured.

proxy_port
#

The port of the proxy server, if one is configured.

proxy_user
#

The username of the proxy server, if one is configured.

read_timeout=(sec)
#

Sets the read timeout, in seconds, for self to integer sec; the initial value is 60.

Argument sec must be a non-negative numeric value:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.read_timeout # => 60
http.get('/todos/1') # => #<Net::HTTPOK 200 OK readbody=true>
http.read_timeout = 0
http.get('/todos/1') # Raises Net::ReadTimeout.

request(req, body = nil) { |response| ... }
#

Sends an HTTPRequest object req to the HTTP server.

If req is a Net::HTTP::Post or Net::HTTP::Put request containing data, the data is also sent. Providing data for a Net::HTTP::Head or Net::HTTP::Get request results in an ArgumentError.

Returns an HTTPResponse object.

When called with a block, passes an HTTPResponse object to the block. The body of the response will not have been read yet; the block can process it using HTTPResponse#read_body, if desired.

This method never raises Net::* exceptions.

request_get(path, initheader = nil) { |response| ... }
#

Sends a GET request to the path. Returns the response as a Net::HTTPResponse object.

When called with a block, passes an HTTPResponse object to the block. The body of the response will not have been read yet; the block can process it using HTTPResponse#read_body, if desired.

Returns the response.

This method never raises Net::* exceptions.

response = http.request_get('/index.html')
# The entity body is already read in this case.
p response['content-type']
puts response.body

# Using a block
http.request_get('/index.html') {|response|
  p response['content-type']
  response.read_body do |str|   # read body now
    print str
  end
}

request_head(path, initheader = nil, &block)
#

Sends a HEAD request to the path and returns the response as a Net::HTTPResponse object.

Returns the response.

This method never raises Net::* exceptions.

response = http.request_head('/index.html')
p response['content-type']

request_post(path, data, initheader = nil) { |response| ... }
#

Sends a POST request to the path.

Returns the response as a Net::HTTPResponse object.

When called with a block, the block is passed an HTTPResponse object. The body of that response will not have been read yet; the block can process it using HTTPResponse#read_body, if desired.

Returns the response.

This method never raises Net::* exceptions.

# example
response = http.request_post('/cgi-bin/nice.rb', 'datadatadata...')
p response.status
puts response.body          # body is already read in this case

# using block
http.request_post('/cgi-bin/nice.rb', 'datadatadata...') {|response|
  p response.status
  p response['content-type']
  response.read_body do |str|   # read body now
    print str
  end
}

response_body_encoding=(value)
#

Sets the encoding to be used for the response body; returns the encoding.

The given value may be:

  • An Encoding object.

  • The name of an encoding.

  • An alias for an encoding name.

See Encoding.

Examples:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
http.response_body_encoding = Encoding::US_ASCII # => #<Encoding:US-ASCII>
http.response_body_encoding = 'US-ASCII'         # => "US-ASCII"
http.response_body_encoding = 'ASCII'            # => "ASCII"

send_entity(path, data, initheader, dest, type, &block)
#

Executes a request which uses a representation and returns its body.

send_request(name, path, data = nil, header = nil)
#

Sends an HTTP request to the HTTP server. Also sends a DATA string if data is given.

Returns a Net::HTTPResponse object.

This method never raises Net::* exceptions.

response = http.send_request('GET', '/index.html')
puts response.body

set_debug_output(output)
#

WARNING This method opens a serious security hole. Never use this method in production code.

Sets the output stream for debugging:

http = Net::HTTP.new(hostname)
File.open('t.tmp', 'w') do |file|
  http.set_debug_output(file)
  http.start
  http.get('/nosuch/1')
  http.finish
end
puts File.read('t.tmp')

Output:

opening connection to jsonplaceholder.typicode.com:80...
opened
<- "GET /nosuch/1 HTTP/1.1\r\nAccept-Encoding: gzip;q=1.0,deflate;q=0.6,identity;q=0.3\r\nAccept: */*\r\nUser-Agent: Ruby\r\nHost: jsonplaceholder.typicode.com\r\n\r\n"
-> "HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found\r\n"
-> "Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2022 21:14:11 GMT\r\n"
-> "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8\r\n"
-> "Content-Length: 2\r\n"
-> "Connection: keep-alive\r\n"
-> "X-Powered-By: Express\r\n"
-> "X-Ratelimit-Limit: 1000\r\n"
-> "X-Ratelimit-Remaining: 999\r\n"
-> "X-Ratelimit-Reset: 1670879660\r\n"
-> "Vary: Origin, Accept-Encoding\r\n"
-> "Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true\r\n"
-> "Cache-Control: max-age=43200\r\n"
-> "Pragma: no-cache\r\n"
-> "Expires: -1\r\n"
-> "X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff\r\n"
-> "Etag: W/\"2-vyGp6PvFo4RvsFtPoIWeCReyIC8\"\r\n"
-> "Via: 1.1 vegur\r\n"
-> "CF-Cache-Status: MISS\r\n"
-> "Server-Timing: cf-q-config;dur=1.3000000762986e-05\r\n"
-> "Report-To: {\"endpoints\":[{\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/a.nel.cloudflare.com\\/report\\/v3?s=yOr40jo%2BwS1KHzhTlVpl54beJ5Wx2FcG4gGV0XVrh3X9OlR5q4drUn2dkt5DGO4GDcE%2BVXT7CNgJvGs%2BZleIyMu8CLieFiDIvOviOY3EhHg94m0ZNZgrEdpKD0S85S507l1vsEwEHkoTm%2Ff19SiO\"}],\"group\":\"cf-nel\",\"max_age\":604800}\r\n"
-> "NEL: {\"success_fraction\":0,\"report_to\":\"cf-nel\",\"max_age\":604800}\r\n"
-> "Server: cloudflare\r\n"
-> "CF-RAY: 778977dc484ce591-DFW\r\n"
-> "alt-svc: h3=\":443\"; ma=86400, h3-29=\":443\"; ma=86400\r\n"
-> "\r\n"
reading 2 bytes...
-> "{}"
read 2 bytes
Conn keep-alive

sspi_auth(req)
#
No documentation available

sspi_auth?(res)
#
No documentation available

start() { |http| ... }
#

Opens a TCP connection and HTTP session.

When this method is called with a block, it passes the Net::HTTP object to the block, and closes the TCP connection and HTTP session after the block has been executed.

When called with a block, it returns the return value of the block; otherwise, it returns self.

started?
#

Returns true if the HTTP session has been started.

trace(path, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a TRACE request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

transport_request(req) { |res| ... }
#
No documentation available

unescape(value)
#
No documentation available

unlock(path, body, initheader = nil)
#

Sends a UNLOCK request to the path and gets a response, as an HTTPResponse object.

use_ssl=(flag)
#

Turn on/off SSL. This flag must be set before starting session. If you change use_ssl value after session started, a Net::HTTP object raises IOError.

use_ssl?
#

Returns true if SSL/TLS is being used with HTTP.

write_timeout=(sec)
#

Sets the write timeout, in seconds, for self to integer sec; the initial value is 60.

Argument sec must be a non-negative numeric value.