Hurl — Run and Test HTTP Requests with Plain Text

What it is

Hurl is a command-line tool for running HTTP requests defined in a simple plain text format. Each .hurl file contains one or more requests with optional assertions, captures, and variable interpolation. You can chain requests (use the response from one as input to the next), assert response status codes, headers, and body content, and run the whole thing in CI/CD pipelines.

Hurl targets API developers, QA engineers, and anyone who tests HTTP endpoints. It sits between curl (too low-level for test suites) and Postman (too heavy for CI). Written in Rust on top of libcurl, it is fast and has zero runtime dependencies.

How it saves time or tokens

Writing API tests in code (pytest, Jest) requires boilerplate for HTTP calls, assertions, and setup. Hurl replaces that with a declarative plain-text format. A test that takes 20 lines of Python fits in 5 lines of Hurl. The files are readable by non-developers, version-control friendly, and execute in milliseconds.

How to use

1. Install Hurl:

brew install hurl                           # macOS
cargo install hurl                          # Rust
sudo apt install hurl                       # Debian/Ubuntu

1. Create a .hurl file with your requests and assertions.

1. Run it:

hurl api.hurl --test

Example

# Test login endpoint
POST http://localhost:8080/api/login
Content-Type: application/json
{
  "username": "admin",
  "password": "secret"
}

HTTP 200
[Captures]
token: jsonpath "$.token"
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.token" isString

# Use captured token for authenticated request
GET http://localhost:8080/api/profile
Authorization: Bearer {{token}}

HTTP 200
[Asserts]
jsonpath "$.username" == "admin"

This tests login, captures the JWT token, and uses it in the next request to verify the profile endpoint.

Related on TokRepo

• Testing Tools -- Tools for automated testing and quality assurance
• Automation Tools -- Automate repetitive development workflows

Common pitfalls

• Hurl files are whitespace-sensitive in request bodies. Ensure JSON payloads are properly formatted or the request will fail with parse errors.
• Variable capture scope is per-file. Variables captured in one request are available in subsequent requests within the same file, but not across files unless passed via --variable.
• Hurl does not replace full test frameworks for complex logic (loops, conditional branching). Use it for HTTP request/response testing and keep business logic tests in your language of choice.