Jurl

Jurl is a modern Java http client designed to make API integrations simpler.

Why

The top StackOverflow answer to "How to make an HTTP request in Java" is terrifying:

Even Apache's HttpClient leaves an uncharacteristic trail of boilerplate code.

Examples

GET

String html = new Jurl()
        .url("https://www.google.com/")
        .param("hl", "es") // spanish!
        .go()
        .getResponseBody();

JSON GET

Jurl uses Jackson to parse json responses.

@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public static class SpotifyArtist {
    public String name;
    public String href;
    public List<String> genres;
}

SpotifyArtist artist = new Jurl()
        .url("https://api.spotify.com/v1/artists/147jymD5t0TCXW0DbaXry0")
        .go()
        .getResponseJsonObject(SpotifyArtist.class);

Map<String, Object> JSON GET

It may be expedient to parse JSON responses into Map<String, Object>.

Map<String, Object> geocodeResults = new Jurl()
        .url("https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json")
        .param("address", "131 West Wilson Street, Madison WI")
        .go()
        .getResponseJsonMap();

Error Handling

If throwOnNon200(true) is set, go() will throw JurlHttpStatusCodeException on non-200 response codes.

try {
    SpotifyArtist artist2 = new Jurl()
            .url("https://api.spotify.com/v1/artists/not-an-artist")
            .throwOnNon200(true)
            .go()
            .getResponseJsonObject(SpotifyArtist.class);
} catch (JurlHttpStatusCodeException e) {
    Jurl jurlInstance = e.getJurlInstance();
    // ...
}

Otherwise, you can always check the response code using getResponseCode().

Jurl jurl = new Jurl()
        .url("https://api.spotify.com/v1/artists/not-an-artist")
        .go();

if (jurl.getResponseCode() == 200) {
    SpotifyArtist artist3 = jurl.getResponseJsonObject(SpotifyArtist.class);
} else {
    // ...
}

JSON POST

Jurl also uses Jackson to serialize JSON request bodies. Note also the calls to .method() to designate "POST" and .header() to set request headers.

public static class EatStreetSigninRequest {
    public String email;
    public String password;
}

@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public static class EatStreetUser {
    public String email;
    public String phone;
    public String api_key;
}

EatStreetSigninRequest signinRequest = new EatStreetSigninRequest();
signinRequest.email = "person@gmail.com";
signinRequest.password = "hunter2";

EatStreetUser user = new Jurl()
        .url("https://eatstreet.com/publicapi/v1/signin")
        .method("POST")
        .header("X-Access-Token", "__API_EXPLORER_AUTH_KEY__")
        .bodyJson(signinRequest)
        .go()
        .getResponseJsonObject(EatStreetUser.class);

Asynchronous Usage

Jurl uses Java Futures to make requests asynchronously.

Future<Jurl> asyncJurl = new Jurl()
        .url("https://api.spotify.com/v1/artists/147jymD5t0TCXW0DbaXry0")
        .goAsync();
        
SpotifyArtist artist4 = asyncJurl.get().getResponseJsonObject(SpotifyArtist.class);

Preserving Cookies / Session

After a request is done, calling newWithCookies() will return a new Jurl instance with request cookies pre-filled, to preserve session.

Debugging requests with curl

You can call .toCurl() on a Jurl instance, it will return a valid unix curl command, useful for debugging.

Notes

• Only UTF-8 encoded character request and response bodies are supported.
• param() calls for POST requests will be x-www-form-urlencoded in the body.
• bodyJson() calls will also set the Content-Type header to application/json.