---
title: About the http Resource
---

# http

Use the `http` InSpec audit resource to test an http endpoint.

<p class="warning">In InSpec 1.40 and earlier, this resource always executes on the host on which <code>inspec exec</code> is run, even if you use the <code>--target</code> option to remotely scan a different host.<br>
<br>
Beginning with InSpec 1.41, you can enable the ability to have the HTTP test execute on the remote target, provided <code>curl</code> is available. See the "Local vs. Remote" section below.<br>
<br>
Executing the HTTP test on the remote target will be the default behavior in InSpec 2.0.
</p>

<br>

## Syntax

An `http` resource block declares the configuration settings to be tested:

    describe http('url', auth: {user: 'user', pass: 'test'}, params: {params}, method: 'method', headers: {headers}, data: data, open_timeout: 60, read_timeout: 60, ssl_verify: true) do
      its('status') { should eq number }
      its('body') { should eq 'body' }
      its('headers.name') { should eq 'header' }
    end

where

* `('url')` is the url to test
* `auth: { user: 'user', pass: 'test' }` may be specified for basic auth request
* `{params}` may be specified for http request parameters
* `'method'` may be specified for http request method (default to 'GET')
* `{headers}` may be specified for http request headers
* `data` may be specified for http request body
* `open_timeout` may be specified for a timeout for opening connections (default to 60)
* `read_timeout` may be specified for a timeout for reading connections (default to 60)
* `ssl_verify` may be specified to enable or disable verification of SSL certificates (default to `true`)

<br>
## Local vs. Remote

Beginning with InSpec 1.41, you can enable the ability to have the HTTP test execute on the remote target:

    describe http('http://www.example.com', enable_remote_worker: true) do
      its('body') { should cmp 'awesome' }
    end

In InSpec 2.0, the HTTP test will automatically execute remotely whenever InSpec is testing a remote node.

## Examples

The following examples show how to use this InSpec audit resource.

### Simple http test

For example, a service is listening on default http port can be tested like this:

    describe http('http://localhost') do
      its('status') { should cmp 200 }
    end

### Complex http test

    describe http('http://localhost:8080/ping',
                  auth: {user: 'user', pass: 'test'},
                  params: {format: 'html'},
                  method: 'POST',
                  headers: {'Content-Type' => 'application/json'},
                  data: '{"data":{"a":"1","b":"five"}}') do
      its('status') { should cmp 200 }
      its('body') { should cmp 'pong' }
      its('headers.Content-Type') { should cmp 'text/html' }
    end

<br>

### body

The `body` matcher tests body content of http response:

   its('body') { should eq 'hello\n' }

### headers

The `headers` matcher returns an hash of all http headers:

    its('headers') { should eq {} }

Individual headers can be tested via:

    its('headers.Content-Type') { should cmp 'text/html' }

### status

The `status` matcher tests status of the http response:

    its('status') { should eq 200 }