HTTP Client

The PSL1GHT HTTP library provides a high-level client for making HTTP and HTTPS requests. It supports features like automatic redirects, authentication, cookies, and connection pooling.

Initialization

Before making HTTP requests, initialize the network, HTTP, and optionally SSL subsystems:

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

#include <http/http.h>
#include <http/https.h>
#include <ssl/ssl.h>
#include <net/net.h>
#include <sysmodule/sysmodule.h>

// Load required system modules
sysModuleLoad(SYSMODULE_NET);
sysModuleLoad(SYSMODULE_HTTP);

// Initialize network
netInitialize();

// Allocate memory pool for HTTP
void *http_pool = malloc(0x10000);  // 64KB
s32 ret = httpInit(http_pool, 0x10000);
if (ret < 0) {
    printf("HTTP init failed: %x\n", ret);
    return -1;
}

For HTTPS support, you must also load SSL modules and initialize SSL. See the SSL documentation for details.

Basic HTTP Request

Create HTTP client

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

httpClientId client;
ret = httpCreateClient(&client);
if (ret < 0) {
    printf("Failed to create client: %x\n", ret);
    return -1;
}

Configure client options

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

// Set connection timeout (in microseconds)
httpClientSetConnTimeout(client, 10 * 1000 * 1000);  // 10 seconds

// Set user agent
httpClientSetUserAgent(client, "Mozilla/5.0 (PLAYSTATION 3; 1.00)");

// Enable automatic redirects
httpClientSetAutoRedirect(client, 1);

Parse URL into URI structure

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

const char *url = "http://example.com/api/data";
httpUri uri;
u32 required_size = 0;

// Get required pool size
ret = httpUtilParseUri(&uri, url, NULL, 0, &required_size);

// Allocate pool and parse
void *uri_pool = malloc(required_size);
ret = httpUtilParseUri(&uri, url, uri_pool, required_size, NULL);
if (ret < 0) {
    printf("Failed to parse URI: %x\n", ret);
    free(uri_pool);
    return -1;
}

Create transaction

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

httpTransId transaction;
ret = httpCreateTransaction(&transaction, client, HTTP_METHOD_GET, &uri);
if (ret < 0) {
    printf("Failed to create transaction: %x\n", ret);
    free(uri_pool);
    return -1;
}

Send request

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

ret = httpSendRequest(transaction, NULL, 0, NULL);
if (ret < 0) {
    printf("Failed to send request: %x\n", ret);
    httpDestroyTransaction(transaction);
    free(uri_pool);
    return -1;
}

Check response status

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

s32 status_code;
ret = httpResponseGetStatusCode(transaction, &status_code);
if (ret < 0 || status_code != HTTP_STATUS_CODE_OK) {
    printf("HTTP error: %d\n", status_code);
}

// Get content length
u64 content_length;
httpResponseGetContentLength(transaction, &content_length);
printf("Content length: %llu bytes\n", content_length);

Receive response data

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

char buffer[4096];
u32 bytes_read;

while (1) {
    ret = httpRecvResponse(transaction, buffer, sizeof(buffer), &bytes_read);
    if (ret < 0 || bytes_read == 0) {
        break;  // End of response or error
    }
    
    // Process received data
    fwrite(buffer, 1, bytes_read, output_file);
}

Clean up

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

httpDestroyTransaction(transaction);
httpDestroyClient(client);
free(uri_pool);

HTTP Methods

The library supports all standard HTTP methods:

http/http.h

// GET request
httpCreateTransaction(&trans, client, HTTP_METHOD_GET, &uri);

// POST request
httpCreateTransaction(&trans, client, HTTP_METHOD_POST, &uri);

// Other methods
HTTP_METHOD_HEAD
HTTP_METHOD_PUT
HTTP_METHOD_DELETE
HTTP_METHOD_OPTIONS
HTTP_METHOD_TRACE

POST Requests

Send data with POST requests:

httpTransId transaction;
httpCreateTransaction(&transaction, client, HTTP_METHOD_POST, &uri);

// Set content length
const char *post_data = "key1=value1&key2=value2";
u64 data_length = strlen(post_data);
httpRequestSetContentLength(transaction, data_length);

// Set content type header
httpHeader header;
header.name = "Content-Type";
header.value = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
httpRequestAddHeader(transaction, &header);

// Send request with body
u32 sent;
httpSendRequest(transaction, post_data, data_length, &sent);

// Receive response as normal

Custom Headers

Add custom headers to requests:

http/http.h

// Add a single header
httpHeader header;
header.name = "Authorization";
header.value = "Bearer token123";
httpRequestAddHeader(transaction, &header);

// Set or replace a header
header.name = "Accept";
header.value = "application/json";
httpRequestSetHeader(transaction, &header);

// Delete a header
httpRequestDeleteHeader(transaction, "User-Agent");

// Get response headers
httpHeader *headers;
u32 header_count;
u32 required_size;
httpRequestGetAllHeaders(transaction, &headers, &header_count, 
                         pool, pool_size, &required_size);

Downloading Files

Complete example of downloading a file:

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

int download_file(const char *url, const char *output_path) {
    httpClientId client;
    httpTransId transaction = 0;
    httpUri uri;
    void *uri_pool = NULL;
    FILE *fp = NULL;
    u32 required_size;
    s32 ret;
    
    // Create client
    httpCreateClient(&client);
    httpClientSetConnTimeout(client, 10 * 1000 * 1000);
    httpClientSetUserAgent(client, "PS3-Downloader/1.0");
    httpClientSetAutoRedirect(client, 1);
    
    // Parse URI
    httpUtilParseUri(&uri, url, NULL, 0, &required_size);
    uri_pool = malloc(required_size);
    httpUtilParseUri(&uri, url, uri_pool, required_size, NULL);
    
    // Create and send request
    httpCreateTransaction(&transaction, client, HTTP_METHOD_GET, &uri);
    ret = httpSendRequest(transaction, NULL, 0, NULL);
    if (ret < 0) goto error;
    
    // Check status
    s32 status;
    httpResponseGetStatusCode(transaction, &status);
    if (status != HTTP_STATUS_CODE_OK) {
        printf("HTTP error: %d\n", status);
        goto error;
    }
    
    // Open output file
    fp = fopen(output_path, "wb");
    if (!fp) goto error;
    
    // Download data
    char buffer[64 * 1024];  // 64KB buffer
    u32 bytes_read;
    
    while (1) {
        ret = httpRecvResponse(transaction, buffer, sizeof(buffer), &bytes_read);
        if (ret < 0 || bytes_read == 0) break;
        
        fwrite(buffer, 1, bytes_read, fp);
    }
    
    fclose(fp);
    httpDestroyTransaction(transaction);
    httpDestroyClient(client);
    free(uri_pool);
    return 0;
    
error:
    if (fp) fclose(fp);
    if (transaction) httpDestroyTransaction(transaction);
    if (client) httpDestroyClient(client);
    if (uri_pool) free(uri_pool);
    return -1;
}

URL Encoding

Encode special characters in URLs:

http/util.h

// Escape URI components
const char *filename = "my file (2024).txt";
char escaped[256];
u32 required;

httpUtilEscapeUri(escaped, sizeof(escaped), 
                  (unsigned char*)filename, strlen(filename), &required);
// Result: "my%20file%20(2024).txt"

// Form URL encoding
const char *data = "key=value with spaces";
char encoded[256];
httpUtilFormUrlEncode(encoded, sizeof(encoded),
                      (unsigned char*)data, strlen(data), &required);
// Result: "key=value+with+spaces"

Client Configuration

Advanced client settings:

http/http.h

// HTTP version
httpClientSetVersion(client, 1, 1);  // HTTP/1.1

// Connection keep-alive
httpClientSetKeepAlive(client, 1);   // Enable

// Connection pooling
httpClientSetTotalPoolSize(client, 4);      // Max 4 connections
httpClientSetPerHostPoolSize(client, 2);    // Max 2 per host

// Timeouts (in microseconds)
httpClientSetRecvTimeout(client, 30 * 1000 * 1000);  // 30 sec
httpClientSetSendTimeout(client, 30 * 1000 * 1000);  // 30 sec

// Buffer sizes
httpClientSetResponseBufferMax(client, 1024 * 1024);  // 1MB

HTTP Status Codes

Common status codes from http/http.h:

Code	Constant	Description
200	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_OK`	Success
201	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Created`	Created
204	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_No_Content`	No content
301	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Moved_Permanently`	Permanent redirect
302	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Found`	Temporary redirect
304	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Not_Modified`	Not modified
400	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Bad_Request`	Bad request
401	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Unauthorized`	Unauthorized
403	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Forbidden`	Forbidden
404	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Not_Found`	Not found
500	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Internal_Server_Error`	Server error
503	`HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Service_Unavailable`	Service unavailable

Error Handling

Always check return values. Network operations can fail for many reasons (timeouts, DNS failures, connection errors, etc.).

s32 ret = httpSendRequest(transaction, NULL, 0, NULL);
if (ret < 0) {
    printf("Request failed with error: 0x%x\n", ret);
    // Clean up and handle error
}

s32 status;
httpResponseGetStatusCode(transaction, &status);
if (status >= 400) {
    if (status == HTTP_STATUS_CODE_Not_Found) {
        printf("Resource not found\n");
    } else if (status >= 500) {
        printf("Server error: %d\n", status);
    } else {
        printf("Client error: %d\n", status);
    }
}

Cleanup

Always clean up resources:

samples/network/httptest/source/http.c

// Destroy transaction and client
if (transaction) httpDestroyTransaction(transaction);
if (client) httpDestroyClient(client);

// Free memory pools
if (uri_pool) free(uri_pool);
if (http_pool) free(http_pool);

// Shutdown HTTP and network
httpEnd();
netDeinitialize();

// Unload system modules
sysModuleUnload(SYSMODULE_HTTP);
sysModuleUnload(SYSMODULE_NET);

API Reference

Key functions from http/http.h: Initialization:

httpInit() - Initialize HTTP library
httpEnd() - Shut down HTTP library

Client management:

httpCreateClient() - Create HTTP client
httpDestroyClient() - Destroy HTTP client
httpClientSet*() - Configure client options

Transactions:

httpCreateTransaction() - Create HTTP request
httpDestroyTransaction() - Destroy transaction
httpSendRequest() - Send HTTP request
httpRecvResponse() - Receive response data

Request manipulation:

httpRequestSetHeader() - Set request header
httpRequestAddHeader() - Add request header
httpRequestSetContentLength() - Set content length

Response inspection:

httpResponseGetStatusCode() - Get HTTP status code
httpResponseGetContentLength() - Get content length
httpResponseGetStatusLine() - Get full status line

Utilities (from http/util.h):

httpUtilParseUri() - Parse URL string
httpUtilEscapeUri() - URL-encode string
httpUtilFormUrlEncode() - Form-encode string

Example

See samples/network/httptest/ for a complete HTTP/HTTPS download example.

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Graphics

Input

Audio

Networking

System

System Utilities

SPU Development

Tools

Advanced Topics

Initialization

Basic HTTP Request

HTTP Methods

POST Requests

Custom Headers

Downloading Files

URL Encoding

Client Configuration

HTTP Status Codes

Error Handling

Cleanup

API Reference

Example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Graphics

Input

Audio

Networking

System

System Utilities

SPU Development

Tools

Advanced Topics

​Initialization

​Basic HTTP Request

​HTTP Methods

​POST Requests

​Custom Headers

​Downloading Files

​URL Encoding

​Client Configuration

​HTTP Status Codes

​Error Handling

​Cleanup

​API Reference

​Example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Initialization

Basic HTTP Request

HTTP Methods

POST Requests

Custom Headers

Downloading Files

URL Encoding

Client Configuration

HTTP Status Codes

Error Handling

Cleanup

API Reference

Example