HTTPX — The Next-Generation HTTP Client for Python

What it is

HTTPX is a Python HTTP client that provides the familiar API of the requests library with added support for async/await, HTTP/2, and strict type annotations. The same httpx.Client API works in both synchronous and asynchronous contexts, making it the go-to HTTP client for modern Python applications that need to evolve from sync to async.

HTTPX targets Python developers building API clients, web services, scrapers, or microservice integrations who want a requests-compatible API with modern protocol support.

How it saves time or tokens

Migrating from requests to an async HTTP client traditionally meant learning a different API (aiohttp). HTTPX uses the same method names and patterns as requests, so the migration is mechanical. Adding HTTP/2 support is a single flag (http2=True). You get connection pooling, automatic redirect handling, and cookie persistence without extra setup.

How to use

1. Install HTTPX: pip install httpx (add httpx[http2] for HTTP/2 support).
2. For sync code, use httpx.get() or create a httpx.Client() for connection pooling.
3. For async code, use async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client: and await client.get().

Example

import httpx
import asyncio

# Synchronous usage (drop-in requests replacement)
r = httpx.get('https://api.github.com/users/python')
print(r.json()['public_repos'])

# Async usage
async def main():
    async with httpx.AsyncClient(http2=True) as client:
        r = await client.get('https://httpbin.org/get')
        print(r.http_version)  # HTTP/2
        print(r.status_code)

asyncio.run(main())

# Connection pooling with a persistent client
with httpx.Client(base_url='https://api.example.com') as client:
    users = client.get('/users').json()
    posts = client.get('/posts').json()

Related on TokRepo

• Web Scraping Tools -- HTTP clients and scraping
• Coding Tools -- Python developer libraries

Common pitfalls

• Creating a new httpx.Client() per request instead of reusing it. Each client manages its own connection pool and TLS sessions.
• Forgetting to install httpx[http2] for HTTP/2 support. The base package only includes HTTP/1.1.
• Using httpx.get() (module-level) in performance-critical code. Module-level functions create a temporary client each call. Use a persistent Client instance instead.