Viewing Responses
Once you tap Send, HTTPBot makes the network call and shows you what came back. The response view is where you read the body, inspect headers and cookies, check timing metrics, see exactly what was sent, and review any test results.
This page covers how the response appears, how to move between its tabs, and the extra tools available for working with the body.
How the response appears
When the request finishes, HTTPBot presents the response:
- On iPhone, the response slides up as a sheet over the request editor. Tap the close button in the top-left corner to dismiss it and return to editing.
- On iPad and Mac, the response sits in a side pane next to the request, so you can see your request and its response at the same time.
While the request is still in flight you'll see a progress indicator (and a Cancel button); for downloads the indicator shows how much has been transferred.
The status indicator
At the top-left of the response is the status indicator. It summarizes the result at a glance and combines up to three pieces of information:
- Status code — colored green for 2xx, orange for 3xx/4xx, and red for 5xx.
- Size — the size of the response body.
- Time — how long the request took, end to end.
Tapping the status indicator opens History (see below). Before you've sent anything, a clock icon appears in its place, which also opens History.
Tabs
A picker along the bottom of the response lets you switch between tabs. Which tabs appear depends on the response — for example, Events only shows up for streaming responses. The Request tab is always available, though its contents only populate after the response arrives.
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Body | The response body, syntax-highlighted. |
| Headers | The response headers returned by the server. |
| Cookies | Any cookies set by the response. |
| Metrics | Detailed timing breakdown (DNS, connection, TLS, transfer, and so on). |
| Request | An echo of what was actually sent — the resolved URL, headers, and body after variables and auth were applied. |
| Tests | Pass/fail results for the tests attached to the request. The tab title shows the count, e.g. Tests (3/4). |
| Events | Live Server-Sent Events, shown only for streaming responses. |
The Request tab is especially handy for debugging: it reflects the request after Environments variables and authentication have been resolved, so you can confirm the server saw what you intended.
For more on the Tests tab, see Tests. For the Events tab, see Server-Sent Events.
Reading the body
The Body tab renders the response using a code editor web view with syntax highlighting for JSON, XML, HTML, and other text formats. JSON is pretty-printed so it's easy to scan nested structures.
{
"items": [
{ "id": 1, "name": "Widget" },
{ "id": 2, "name": "Gadget" }
]
}
Wrapping long lines
By default, long lines extend horizontally and you scroll sideways to read them.
To wrap them instead, open the … menu in the bottom toolbar and turn on
Wrap Response.
Large and binary responses
Not every response is text you can read inline. When a response is too large to render, or when it's binary (an image, a PDF, a zip, and so on), HTTPBot saves it to a file instead of trying to display it. The Body tab then shows a file preview with the file's name and a Preview button. Tapping Preview opens the content in Quick Look, so you can view images, documents, and other file types without leaving the app.
If a file-backed response can't be loaded, HTTPBot shows an "Unable to load response" message — try sending the request again.
Sharing the body
Use the share button in the bottom toolbar to share the response:
- For a text body, it shares the body text.
- For a file or download, it shares the saved file.
This uses the standard iOS/macOS share sheet, so you can copy it, save it to Files, AirDrop it, or send it to another app.
Filtering the response
When the body is text, a Filter Response button appears in the bottom toolbar. Tapping it opens a filtering view where you can run a jq, JSONPath, or XPath query against the body to extract or reshape just the parts you care about.
See Filtering Responses for the full guide.
History
HTTPBot keeps a record of recent sends for each request so you can flip back to an earlier response without re-sending.
To open it, tap the status indicator (or the clock icon, if you haven't sent yet). A popover lists recent sends; pick one to load that response back into the view, including its body, headers, and test results.
How many responses are kept
The number of past responses HTTPBot retains is controlled by the history-count setting (10 by default), which applies to every request. You can adjust it in Request Settings. You can also clear history at any time from Settings.
Downloads
When a response is a file or a download, HTTPBot saves it to disk rather than rendering it inline. The Body tab shows the downloaded file with its name and a Preview button (which opens Quick Look) alongside a Share action.
To keep the file, use Share and choose Save to Files (or any other destination). This is the same flow whether the download was an explicit file download or simply a body that was too large or binary to display.