xh Quick Start: GET, POST, Headers, Sessions, and –curl Translation in 5 Minutes

You’ve installed xh. Now let’s get you productive fast. This guide covers GET/POST/Header/Session/Download/curl translation — everything you need for daily API work.nn

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Basic Requests

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GET — the simplest start

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xh httpbin.org/getn

nnColored JSON back in milliseconds. No -X GET needed.nn

Auto-detected Method

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# Bare URL = GETnxh https://httpbin.org/jsonnn# With URL paramsnxh https://httpbin.org/get name==Tom page==1n

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POST with JSON Body

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xh post httpbin.org/post name=Tom age:=26n

nnNote the difference: name=Tom (string) vs age:=26 (:= forces JSON number type).nn

PUT / PATCH / DELETE

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xh put httpbin.org/put name=Updatednxh patch httpbin.org/patch name=Patchednxh delete httpbin.org/deleten

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Headers and Query Parameters

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Custom Headers

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# Single headernxh httpbin.org/get user-agent:MyApp/1.0nn# Multiple headersnxh httpbin.org/get n  accept:application/json n  x-api-key:secret123n

nnHeader name followed by a colon :. Empty value? Just write content-type: with nothing after it.nn

URL Query Parameters (no more hand-written ? and &)

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# Instead of https://httpbin.org/get?page=2&sort=descnxh get httpbin.org/get page==2 sort==descn

nnThis alone makes xh worth using.nn

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Form Submissions and File Uploads

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Form Data (application/x-www-form-urlencoded)

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xh -f post httpbin.org/post username=admin password=123456n

nn-f is shorthand for --form.nn

Upload a File

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# @ reads file contentsnxh post httpbin.org/post document@report.pdfn

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Sessions — Keep Login State

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# First: login (Session saves cookies)nxh post :8080/login username=admin password=secret --session=loginnn# Subsequent requests reuse the same sessionnxh get :8080/api/profile --session=loginn

nnIt’s like browser “remember me” — no manual cookie extraction.nn

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Downloads and Output Control

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Download to File

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xh -d https://httpbin.org/json -o response.jsonn

nn-d is --download, -o is --output.nn

Body-Only or Headers-Only

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# Body onlynxh httpbin.org/get -bnn# Headers onlynxh httpbin.org/get -hnn# Custom format (metadata + headers + body)nxh httpbin.org/get -p hmn# m = metadata, h = headers, b = bodyn

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Most Useful: –curl Translation

nnTranslate any xh command to an equivalent curl command:nn

xh post httpbin.org/post name=Tom age:=26 --curln

nnOutputs:nn

curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post n  -H "Content-Type: application/json" n  -d '{"Name":"Tom","age":26}'n

nnHandy for sharing with curl-only colleagues. Or construct without sending:nn

xh post :8080/api/users name=admin --offline --curlnnn

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SSL and Timeout Control

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Skip SSL Verification (dev environments)

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xh https://expired-cert.example.com/get --verify=non

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Set a Timeout

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xh httpbin.org/delay/5 --timeout=3n

nn3-second timeout. Because waiting is boring.nn

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Quick Reference

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Next Steps

nnThat’s the full picture: intro, Linux install, macOS install, and usage guide — all published on the blog. Share the English version with international colleagues or Linux friends.nnQuestions? Comments welcome.