SnapReq: A CLI-Based API Client for Simplified API Testing

SnapReq is a command-line tool designed to simplify API testing and interactions, similar to Postman but entirely in the terminal. With SnapReq, you can easily perform GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests on any provided URL. It supports adding headers, query parameters, or payloads and allows saving responses to files.

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Key Features

• Support for All HTTP Methods: Perform GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests.
• Custom Headers: Add request headers using the --headers option.
• Query Parameters and Data Payloads:
  • Use --params for query parameters in GET requests.
  • Use --data for payloads in other methods.
• Response Management:
  • Save responses to a file with the --output option.
  • View response headers using --show-headers.
• User-Friendly Help:
  • snapr --help provides an overview of available commands.
  • snapr <method> --help shows specific options for each HTTP method.

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Installation

SnapReq is available on PyPI. Install it using pip:

pip install snapreq

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Usage

Command Overview

To see all available commands, use:

snapr --help

Output:

usage: snapr [-h] {get,post,put,patch,delete} ...

SnapReq: A simple API Client

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

commands:
  {get,post,put,patch,delete}
    get                 Make a GET request
    post                Make a POST request
    put                 Make a PUT request
    patch               Make a PATCH request
    delete              Make a DELETE request

Performing Requests

SnapReq provides detailed help for each HTTP method. Below are examples for each method:

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GET Request

Make a GET request with query parameters, headers, and optional response output.

snapr get --params "key1=value1&key2=value2" --headers "Authorization=Bearer token" --output response.json https://api.example.com/data

Get Method Help:

snapr get --help

Output:

usage: snapr get [-h] [--headers HEADERS] [--show-headers] [--output OUTPUT] [--params PARAMS] url

positional arguments:
  url                   API endpoint URL

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --headers HEADERS     Headers as a string of key-value pairs (e.g. header1=value1&header2=value2)
  --show-headers, -sh   Show response headers
  --output OUTPUT, -o OUTPUT
                        Output file path
  --params PARAMS, -p PARAMS
                        Query parameters as a string of key-value pairs (e.g. key1=value1&key2=value2)

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POST Request

Make a POST request with data, headers, and optional response output.

snapr post --data "key1=value1&key2=value2" --headers "Content-Type=application/json" --output response.json https://api.example.com/data

Post Method Help:

snapr post --help

Output:

usage: snapr post [-h] [--headers HEADERS] [--show-headers] [--output OUTPUT] [--data DATA] url

positional arguments:
  url                   API endpoint URL

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --headers HEADERS     Headers as a string of key-value pairs (e.g. header1=value1&header2=value2)
  --show-headers, -sh   Show response headers
  --output OUTPUT, -o OUTPUT
                        Output file path
  --data DATA, -d DATA  Payload as a string of key-value pairs (e.g. key1=value1&key2=value2)

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PUT Request

Make a PUT request similar to POST, using the --data option for payload.

snapr put --data "key1=value1" --headers "Authorization=Bearer token" https://api.example.com/data

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PATCH Request

Make a PATCH request to partially update resources.

snapr patch --data "field=value" --headers "Authorization=Bearer token" https://api.example.com/data

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DELETE Request

Perform a DELETE request to remove resources.

snapr delete --headers "Authorization=Bearer token" https://api.example.com/resource

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Advanced Options

• Show Response Headers: Use --show-headers (or -sh) to print response headers to the console.

  snapr get --headers "Authorization=Bearer token" --show-headers https://api.example.com/data

• Save Response: Use --output (or -o) to save the response body to a file.

  snapr get --output response.json https://api.example.com/data

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Examples

Example 1: GET Request with Parameters and Headers

snapr get --params "search=python&limit=10" --headers "User-Agent=SnapReq" https://api.example.com/search

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Example 2: POST Request with Data and Response File

snapr post --data "key1=value1&key2=value2" --headers "Content-Type=application/json" --output post_response.json https://api.example.com/resource

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you encounter any bugs or have feature suggestions, feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.