# xh — Friendly and Fast HTTPie-Compatible HTTP Client in Rust

> xh is a blazing-fast HTTP client with an HTTPie-compatible UX, written in Rust, shipping as a single static binary with built-in JSON syntax highlighting, forms, sessions, and HTTP/2.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# xh — Friendly and Fast HTTPie-Compatible HTTP Client in Rust

## Quick Use
```bash
brew install xh
# GET with pretty JSON
xh httpbin.org/json
# POST JSON body + header
xh POST api.example.com/users name=alice role=admin 
   Authorization:"Bearer $TOKEN"
```

## Introduction
`xh` gives you HTTPie's human-friendly syntax at Rust-level speed and portability. It's a single binary you can drop into Alpine containers and CI runners without pulling in Python. For teams that love HTTPie's `key=value` body shorthand and colorized JSON but resent the cold-start cost, xh is a near drop-in replacement.

## What xh Does
- Performs HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTPS requests from the command line.
- Offers HTTPie-style shorthand for JSON (`name=value`), strings (`::`), raw JSON (`:=`), forms (`--form`), files (`@path`), and headers (`Key:value`).
- Pretty-prints JSON and colorizes request/response.
- Supports sessions, downloads, resumable transfers, multipart uploads.
- Ships as a single ~5MB static binary.

## Architecture Overview
xh is built on `reqwest` (hyper + rustls) and `clap`. A request parser translates CLI tokens into typed body/header/query segments, then hyper executes the request. Output is pretty-printed by `serde_json` and syntect. HTTP/2 and TLS come from rustls with no OpenSSL dependency.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via `brew install xh`, `cargo install xh`, or binary release.
- Sessions stored as JSON in `~/.config/xh/sessions/`.
- `XH_CONFIG_DIR` overrides location.
- Works offline: `--offline` prints the request without sending.
- Supports `.netrc`, client certs, proxies, and custom CA bundles.

## Key Features
- HTTPie-compatible syntax — muscle memory transfers.
- ~3–6× faster cold start than HTTPie (no Python interpreter).
- Single-binary distribution, ideal for containers and CI.
- HTTP/2, HSTS, and rustls by default.
- Session support and `--download` with resume.

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **HTTPie (Python)** — same UX; heavier install, slower startup.
- **curl** — ubiquitous but verbose; no JSON shorthand.
- **curlie** — curl wrapper in Go with HTTPie syntax; fewer features than xh.
- **Hurl** — file-based runner for test suites; different use case.
- **Bruno/Postman** — GUI and collections; xh is CLI-only.

## FAQ
**Q: Is xh a drop-in replacement for HTTPie?**
A: 95% — most recipes work unchanged; a few niche flags differ.

**Q: Does it support HTTP/3?**
A: Experimental via `--http3` when built with the `http3` feature.

**Q: How do I pin TLS versions?**
A: `--tls 1.3` forces TLS 1.3.

**Q: Can I import an HTTPie session?**
A: Copy the JSON into `~/.config/xh/sessions/<host>/<name>.json`.

## Sources
- https://github.com/ducaale/xh
- https://crates.io/crates/xh

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/bc2fcb99-389d-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: AI Open Source