Requests Laravel Package

Getting Started

Install via Composer: composer require rmccue/requests. Start with the core Requests::request() method—no complex configuration needed for basic usage. For example:

use Requests;

$response = Requests::get('https://api.example.com/users/123');
echo $response->body; // Raw response body
echo $response->status_code; // 200

Look first at the Requests class static methods (get, post, etc.) and the Requests_Response object returned. The README’s “Usage” section gives minimal but sufficient examples for common GET/POST cases.

Implementation Patterns

• Consistent Request Building: Wrap Requests in a service class that sets defaults (e.g., base URL, headers) for API clients. Use Requests::request($url, $headers, $data, $type, $options) to standardize retries or logging.
• Async-like Parallel Requests: Use Requests::request_multiple() with an array of request configs—ideal for batch API calls without blocking.
• Hook-Driven Auth/Logging: Register custom hooks via Requests::register_hook('request.before_send', $callback) to inject API keys, emit logs, or validate signatures globally.
• Fallback Transports: Detect environment constraints and switch transports via Requests::set_transport() (e.g., force Requests_Transport_fsockopen in cURL-restricted hosting).
• Stream Large Responses: Use 'stream' => true in options to process large downloads incrementally, avoiding memory issues.

Gotchas and Tips

• No PSR-7 Compliance: Responses are not PSR-7 objects—do not expect interoperability with Symfony’s HttpClient or Guzzle middleware. Avoid mixing libraries that expect PSR-7 unless you convert manually.
• Timeouts are in seconds, but default to 10s: Set 'timeout' => 30 explicitly for slow endpoints; missing this causes silent timeouts.
• Cookies require cookiejar option: Cookies aren’t persisted by default. Use Requests::get($url, [], [], [], ['cookiejar' => '/path/to/cookie.txt']) or Requests_Cookie_Jar for state.
• Redirects: Follow only HTTP 3xx by default—enable follow_redirects in options (set true or integer depth). HTTP 204 responses with Location headers won’t redirect.
• Debugging: Enable Requests::set_debug(true); globally to log low-level request details— invaluable for transport-specific issues (e.g., open_basedir restrictions with fsockopen).
• Extensibility: Extend Requests_Transport for custom backends (e.g., mock HTTP in tests), or use Requests::add_hook() to mutate requests/responses—perfect for audit trails or circuit breakers.