python requests print curl command

Python Requests Print Curl Command

If you are working with APIs in Python using the popular Requests library, there may come a time when you need to print the equivalent curl command for a specific request. The curl command is a popular command-line tool used for transferring data to and from servers.

Method 1: Using Requests-Toolbelt

One way to print the curl command for a Request object in Python is to use the Requests-Toolbelt library. This library provides a utility function called curlify, which can convert a Request object into an equivalent curl command.

To use this method, you first need to install the Requests-Toolbelt library:


pip install requests-toolbelt

Once installed, you can use the curlify.to_curl function to print the curl command for a Request object:


import requests
from requests_toolbelt.utils import curlify

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com')
curl_command = curlify.to_curl(response.request)
print(curl_command)

This will print the equivalent curl command for the GET request made to https://www.example.com.

Method 2: Manually Constructing the Curl Command

If you don't want to use an external library like Requests-Toolbelt, you can also manually construct the curl command using the information from the Request object.

To do this, you need to extract the following information from the Request object:

  • The HTTP method (e.g. GET, POST, PUT)
  • The URL
  • The request headers
  • The request body (if applicable)

You can then use this information to construct the curl command using the following template:


curl -X <HTTP_METHOD> \
     -H 'Header-Name: Header-Value' \
     -d 'request_body' \
     <URL>

Here's an example of how you could manually construct the curl command for a GET request:


import requests

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com')
curl_command = f"curl -X GET -H 'User-Agent: MyScript' {response.url}"
print(curl_command)

This will print the equivalent curl command for the GET request made to https://www.example.com, with a custom User-Agent header.

Conclusion

Printing the equivalent curl command for a Request object in Python can be useful for debugging and troubleshooting API requests. You can use the Requests-Toolbelt library or manually construct the curl command using the information from the Request object.