Your First Request

Welcome! This guide takes you from a blank screen to a sent request and a response you can read — in just a few minutes. We'll use a friendly public API so you can follow along without any setup or credentials. If you're new to HTTPBot, this is the best place to start.

By the end you'll have built, sent, inspected, and saved your very first request. Let's go.

What you'll need

• HTTPBot installed on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
• A network connection.

That's it — no account or API key required for this walkthrough.

Step 1: Create a request and enter a URL

Open HTTPBot and create a new request (look for the + button). You'll see the request editor with a URL bar across the top.

In the URL bar, type or paste a real, public endpoint. We'll use:

https://httpbin.org/get

This is a free testing service that simply echoes information about the request back to you — perfect for a first try. (You could also use https://api.github.com to see GitHub's public API respond.)

The method button is in the navigation bar next to the request's name. For this request, leave it on GET, which is the method for reading data. You can learn more about methods and the URL bar in Building a Request.

Step 2 (optional): Add query parameters or headers

You can send a request as-is, but most APIs let you refine it with query parameters and headers.

• Query Params — the key/value pairs that appear after the ? in a URL. Try adding a parameter with key hello and value world. HTTPBot will append ?hello=world to your URL automatically.
• Headers — extra metadata such as Accept: application/json. Add one if your API needs it.

Both are simple key/value editors with a toggle to enable or disable each row. For the full details, see Building a Request.

Since httpbin.org/get echoes everything back, any parameters or headers you add here will show up in the response — a nice way to see that they worked.

Step 3 (optional): Add a body and authentication

A GET request usually doesn't need a body, so you can skip this step for now. But when you move on to creating or updating data, you'll use a different method and a Body:

• For a POST request, switch the method to POST and open the Body section to attach JSON, form data, or other content. See Request Body. (To try this against the test service, use https://httpbin.org/post.)
• If your API requires credentials, open the Auth section. Free plans include Basic, Bearer token, and API Key authentication; advanced methods like OAuth, AWS, and JWT are part of Pro. PRO See Authentication.

For your very first request, leave the body and auth empty and continue.

Step 4: Tap Send

When you're ready, tap Send.

HTTPBot builds the network call, sends it, and switches to the response view. This usually takes a moment.

Step 5: Read the response

Now for the fun part — reading what came back. The response view shows you:

• Status — the HTTP status code, such as 200 OK. A 2xx code means success; 3xx means a redirect; 4xx means something was wrong with the request; 5xx means the server had a problem.
• Body — the content the server returned. For httpbin.org/get, this is JSON that echoes your request details, pretty-printed and syntax-highlighted.
• Headers — the response headers the server sent back.
• Timing and size — how long the request took and how big the response was.

Switch between the Body, Headers, and other tabs to explore. For a deeper look at everything on this screen, see Viewing Responses.

Try filtering the response

If the body is large, you can pull out just the part you care about. Look for Filter Response and try a simple JSON query — for example, with httpbin.org/get you can filter down to the url or headers field. HTTPBot supports JQ, JSONPath, and XPath. See Filtering Responses to learn the syntax.

Step 6: Organize and reuse your request

You just sent your first request — here's how to keep your work organized and re-runnable.

HTTPBot groups related requests into Collections, which also sync across your devices. Requests live inside a Collection: open the Collections tab, create a Collection, then use its + button to add a New Request right where you want it — and build it just like you did here. You can also bring in requests you already have by importing a Postman collection, an OpenAPI/Swagger spec, or a HAR file into a Collection. See Collections & Folders for organizing your work and Importing for the import formats.

To make a request reusable across different setups — say, swapping between a staging and a production host — move the changing parts into variables. Instead of hard-coding the host, you might write {{baseUrl}}/get and define baseUrl in an Environment. Then switching environments re-points the request without editing it. See Environments & Variables.

Next steps

Congratulations — you've built, sent, and inspected a request. Here's where to go from here:

• Add a test — make HTTPBot automatically check the response, for example that the status is 200. Add as many tests per request as you need. See Tests.
• Automate it — run your saved request from the Shortcuts app and add it to your automations. See Shortcuts.
• Go deeper on requests — explore bodies, auth, and request settings in Building a Request, Request Body, Authentication, and Request Settings.

When you want a high-level map of everything HTTPBot can do, head back to Welcome to HTTPBot.