---
description: Full reference for HTTP source including auth/session and resultContent strategy.
date_published: 2026-08-13
date_modified: 2026-08-13
canonical_url: https://metricshub.org/community-connectors/develop/sources/http.html
---

# http (Source)

On this Page

- [When To Use](#when-to-use)
- [Syntax](#syntax)
- [Properties](#properties)
- [Recommended Pattern](#recommended-pattern)
- [Common Mistakes](#common-mistakes)
- [Community Examples](#community-examples)

## When To Use

Use `http` when the target exposes REST/HTTP endpoints (for example Redfish or appliance APIs).

HTTP sources usually return raw payload text first, then computes convert payloads into tabular data for mapping.

## Syntax

```yaml
sources:
  systems:
    type: http
    method: get
    path: /redfish/v1/Systems
    resultContent: body
    computes:
    - type: json2Csv
      entryKey: /Members
      properties: /@odata.id
      separator: ;
```

## Properties

| Property | Required | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `type` | Yes | None | `http`. |
| `method` | No | `get` | HTTP method (`get`, `post`, `put`, `delete`). |
| `path` | Conditionally | None | Relative path on target endpoint. |
| `url` | Conditionally | None | Absolute URL. |
| `header` | No | None | Request headers (inline or `${file::...}`). |
| `body` | No | None | Request payload. |
| `authenticationToken` | No | None | Token value/expression used by HTTP extension. |
| `resultContent` | No | `body` | Response part: `body`, `header`, `all`, `http_status`. |
| `executeForEachEntryOf` | No | None | Execute request once per input row (`$1`, `$2`, … placeholders). |
| `computes` | No | `[]` | Post-processing pipeline (often `json2Csv`/`xml2Csv`). |
| `forceSerialization` | No | `false` | Serialize execution via a per-connector, per-host lock (see the Sources overview). Default `false`. |

> **Important**
>
> Define at least one of `path` or `url`. New connectors should generally prefer `path` with protocol configuration.

## Recommended Pattern

- Use `beforeAll` for login/session bootstrap, then reuse tokens/headers.
- Parse JSON/XML immediately after retrieval.
- Use `executeForEachEntryOf` for endpoint fan-out (`/Systems/$1`, `/Drives/$1`, …).
- Keep response scope narrow (`?$select=...` when API supports it).

## Common Mistakes

- Pulling huge payloads and filtering later.
- Mixing relative `path` and absolute `url` inconsistently in one connector.
- Forgetting `resultContent` and trying to parse headers as body.
- Using body parsing for simple health checks.

## Community Examples

- [Redfish](https://github.com/metricshub/community-connectors/blob/main/src/main/connector/hardware/Redfish/Redfish.yaml)

> **Note**
>
> `resultContent: http_status` is the preferred pattern for cheap status-only calls. Keep `resultContent: body` for payload extraction.