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HTTP GET Request

Zero-dependency Python snippets for making HTTP GET requests using the standard library.

7 snippets available in this sub-category.

Simple

Simple HTTP GET request

http get request web urllib network

Simple HTTP GET request

import urllib.request

def http_get(url):
    """Perform a simple HTTP GET request and return the response as a string."""
    with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
url = "https://httpbin.org/get"
result = http_get(url)
print(result)  # Prints the response body as a string

Notes

  • Uses only the Python standard library (urllib.request)
  • Handles basic GET requests
  • Returns response as a string
  • For binary data, see the streaming example below

HTTP GET with custom headers

http get headers request web urllib

HTTP GET request with custom headers

import urllib.request

def http_get_with_headers(url, headers=None):
    """Perform an HTTP GET request with custom headers."""
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers or {})
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
url = "https://httpbin.org/headers"
headers = {"User-Agent": "stdlib-sniper/1.0"}
result = http_get_with_headers(url, headers)
print(result)

Notes

  • Allows setting custom headers (e.g., User-Agent, Authorization)
  • Useful for APIs requiring authentication or custom identification

HTTP GET with error handling

http get error handling request web

HTTP GET request with error handling

import urllib.request
import urllib.error

def http_get_safe(url):
    """Perform an HTTP GET request with error handling."""
    try:
        with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
            return response.read().decode("utf-8")
    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
        print(f"HTTP error: {e.code} {e.reason}")
    except urllib.error.URLError as e:
        print(f"URL error: {e.reason}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
    return None

# Example usage
url = "https://httpbin.org/status/404"
result = http_get_safe(url)
print(result)  # None, with error message printed

Notes

  • Catches HTTP and URL errors
  • Prints error messages and returns None on failure
  • Recommended for production code

HTTP GET streaming (binary data)

http get binary streaming download web

HTTP GET request for binary/streaming data

import urllib.request

def http_get_binary(url, chunk_size=1024):
    """Download binary data from a URL in chunks (streaming)."""
    with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
        while True:
            chunk = response.read(chunk_size)
            if not chunk:
                break
            yield chunk

# Example usage: Download an image
url = "https://httpbin.org/image/png"
with open("output.png", "wb") as f:
    for chunk in http_get_binary(url):
        f.write(chunk)

Notes

  • Suitable for large files or binary data (images, PDFs, etc.)
  • Reads data in chunks to avoid high memory usage
  • Use in a with open(..., 'wb') block for file downloads

Complex

HTTP GET with timeout and redirect handling

http get timeout redirect error web

HTTP GET with timeout and redirect handling

import urllib.request
import urllib.error

def http_get_with_timeout(url, timeout=5):
    """HTTP GET with timeout and redirect handling."""
    try:
        with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=timeout) as response:
            return response.read().decode("utf-8")
    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
        print(f"HTTP error: {e.code} {e.reason}")
    except urllib.error.URLError as e:
        print(f"URL error: {e.reason}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
    return None

# Example usage
url = "https://httpbin.org/redirect/2"
result = http_get_with_timeout(url, timeout=2)
print(result)

Notes

  • Handles server redirects automatically (default urllib behavior)
  • Timeout is in seconds; raises error if exceeded

HTTP GET with proxy support

http get proxy network web

HTTP GET with proxy support

import urllib.request

def http_get_with_proxy(url, proxy_url):
    """HTTP GET using an HTTP proxy."""
    proxy_handler = urllib.request.ProxyHandler({'http': proxy_url, 'https': proxy_url})
    opener = urllib.request.build_opener(proxy_handler)
    with opener.open(url) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage
# proxy = "http://localhost:8080"
# url = "http://httpbin.org/get"
# result = http_get_with_proxy(url, proxy)
# print(result)

Notes

  • Useful for environments behind a proxy or for debugging

HTTP GET ignoring SSL certificate errors

http get ssl certificate error web

HTTP GET ignoring SSL certificate errors

import urllib.request
import ssl

def http_get_ignore_ssl(url):
    """HTTP GET ignoring SSL certificate errors (not recommended for production)."""
    context = ssl._create_unverified_context()
    with urllib.request.urlopen(url, context=context) as response:
        return response.read().decode("utf-8")

# Example usage (for self-signed certs)
# url = "https://self-signed.badssl.com/"
# result = http_get_ignore_ssl(url)
# print(result)

Notes

  • Use only for testing or in trusted environments
  • Disables SSL verification (security risk in production)

🔗 Cross-References

🏷️ Tags

http, get, request, web, urllib, network, headers, error, binary, streaming

📝 Notes

  • For HTTPS, works with valid SSL certificates by default
  • For timeouts, pass timeout=seconds to urlopen
  • For advanced authentication, see HTTP Basic Auth snippet
  • For JSON APIs, use json.loads(response.read().decode())
  • Always handle exceptions in production code