HTTP functions

These functions can be used when opening and submitting remote web requests, and webhooks.

Before you begin

Available since: v2.2.0

From version 2.2 of SurrealDB, the HTTP functions have been improved to provide a more consistent and user-friendly experience. These improvements include:

• Enhanced HTTP error messages: The server provides more descriptive error responses, including relevant HTTP status codes and detailed error information when available.

• Raw SurrealQL data encoding: Data types are preserved more faithfully in responses through improved encoding.

  • SurrealQL byte values are now sent as raw bytes (not base64-encoded or JSON-encoded).
  • SurrealQL string values are sent as raw strings.
  • All other SurrealQL values (numbers, arrays, objects, booleans, etc.) are automatically JSON-encoded.

• Manual Header Configuration: SurrealDB no longer automatically adds Content-Type: application/octet-stream to responses when the body contains SurrealQL byte values. If you need this header, you can set it manually.

http::head

The http::head function performs a remote HTTP HEAD request. The first parameter is the URL of the remote endpoint. If the response does not return a 2XX status code, then the function will fail and return the error.

API DEFINITION
http::head(string) -> null

If an object is given as the second argument, then this can be used to set the request headers.

API DEFINITION
http::head(string, object) -> null

The following example shows this function, and its output, when used in a RETURN statement:

RETURN http::head('https://surrealdb.com');

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To specify custom headers with the HTTP request, pass an object as the second argument:

RETURN http::head('https://surrealdb.com', {
	'x-my-header': 'some unique string'
});

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http::get

The http::get function performs a remote HTTP GET request. The first parameter is the URL of the remote endpoint. If the response does not return a 2XX status code, then the function will fail and return the error.

If the remote endpoint returns an application/json content-type, then the response is parsed and returned as a value, otherwise the response is treated as text.

API DEFINITION
http::get(string) -> value

If an object is given as the second argument, then this can be used to set the request headers.

API DEFINITION
http::get(string, object) -> value

The following example shows this function, and its output, when used in a RETURN statement:

RETURN http::get('https://surrealdb.com');

-- The HTML code is returned

To specify custom headers with the HTTP request, pass an object as the second argument:

RETURN http::get('https://surrealdb.com', {
	'x-my-header': 'some unique string'
});

-- The HTML code is returned

http::put

The http::put function performs a remote HTTP PUT request. The first parameter is the URL of the remote endpoint, and the second parameter is the value to use as the request body, which will be converted to JSON. If the response does not return a 2XX status code, then the function will fail and return the error. If the remote endpoint returns an application/json content-type, then the response is parsed and returned as a value, otherwise the response is treated as text.

API DEFINITION
http::put(string, object) -> value

If an object is given as the third argument, then this can be used to set the request headers.

API DEFINITION
http::put(string, object, object) -> value

The following example shows this function, and its output, when used in a RETURN statement:

Request without headers
RETURN http::put('https://dummyjson.com/comments', {
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
});

Request with headers
RETURN http::put('https://dummyjson.com/comments', {
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
}, {
  'Authorization': 'Bearer your-token-here',
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  'x-custom-header': 'custom-value'
});

Response
{
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
}

http::post

The http::post function performs a remote HTTP POST request. The first parameter is the URL of the remote endpoint, and the second parameter is the value to use as the request body, which will be converted to JSON. If the response does not return a 2XX status code, then the function will fail and return the error. If the remote endpoint returns an application/json content-type, then the response is parsed and returned as a value, otherwise the response is treated as text.

API DEFINITION
http::post(string, object) -> value

If an object is given as the third argument, then this can be used to set the request headers.

API DEFINITION
http::post(string, object, object) -> value

The following example shows this function, and its output, when used in a RETURN statement:

Request without headers
RETURN http::post('https://dummyjson.com/comments/1', {
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
});

Request with headers
RETURN http::post('https://dummyjson.com/comments/1', {
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
}, {
  'Authorization': 'Bearer your-token-here',
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  'x-custom-header': 'custom-value'
});

Response
{
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
}

http::patch

The http::patch function performs a remote HTTP PATCH request. The first parameter is the URL of the remote endpoint, and the second parameter is the value to use as the request body, which will be converted to JSON. If the response does not return a 2XX status code, then the function will fail and return the error. If the remote endpoint returns an application/json content-type, then the response is parsed and returned as a value, otherwise the response is treated as text.

API DEFINITION
http::patch(string, object) -> value

If an object is given as the third argument, then this can be used to set the request headers.

API DEFINITION
http::patch(string, object, object) -> value

The following example shows this function, and its output, when used in a RETURN statement:

Request without headers
RETURN http::patch('https://dummyjson.com/comments/1', {
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
});

Setting the request headers
RETURN http::patch('https://dummyjson.com/comments/1', {
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
}, {
  'Authorization': 'Bearer your-token-here',
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  'x-custom-header': 'custom-value'
});

RESPONSE
{
  "id": 1,
  "body": "This is some awesome thinking!",
  "postId": 100,
  "user": {
    "id": 63,
    "username": "eburras1q"
  }
}

http::delete

The http::delete function performs a remote HTTP DELETE request. The first parameter is the URL of the remote endpoint, and the second parameter is the value to use as the request body, which will be converted to JSON. If the response does not return a 2XX status code, then the function will fail and return the error. If the remote endpoint returns an application/json content-type, then the response is parsed and returned as a value, otherwise the response is treated as text.

API DEFINITION
http::delete(string) -> value

If an object is given as the second argument, then this can be used to set the request headers.

API DEFINITION
http::delete(string, object) -> value

The following example shows this function, and its output, when used in a RETURN statement:

RETURN http::delete('https://dummyjson.com/comments/1');

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To specify custom headers with the HTTP request, pass an object as the second argument:

RETURN http::delete('https://dummyjson.com/comments/1', {
	'x-my-header': 'some unique string'
});

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