# http_client

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [connect-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect-full.txt)

---
title: http_client
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.1.9
docname: outputs/http_client
page-component-name: connect
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Connect
page-relative-src-path: outputs/http_client.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/rp-connect-docs/edit/main/modules/components/pages/outputs/http_client.adoc
page-git-created-date: "2024-05-24"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-05-26"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/components/outputs/http_client.md -->

**Type:** Output ▼

[Output](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/components/outputs/http_client/)[Input](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/components/inputs/http_client/)

**Available in:** [Cloud](https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform/develop/connect/components/outputs/http_client/%20%22View%20the%20Cloud%20version%20of%20this%20component%22), Self-Managed

Sends messages to a HTTP server.

#### Common

```yml
outputs:
  label: ""
  http_client:
    url: "" # No default (required)
    verb: POST
    headers: {}
    rate_limit: "" # No default (optional)
    timeout: 5s
    max_in_flight: 64
    batching:
      count: 0
      byte_size: 0
      period: ""
      check: ""
      processors: [] # No default (optional)
```

#### Advanced

```yml
outputs:
  label: ""
  http_client:
    url: "" # No default (required)
    verb: POST
    headers: {}
    metadata:
      include_prefixes: []
      include_patterns: []
    dump_request_log_level: ""
    oauth:
      enabled: false
      consumer_key: ""
      consumer_secret: ""
      access_token: ""
      access_token_secret: ""
    oauth2:
      enabled: false
      client_key: ""
      client_secret: ""
      token_url: ""
      scopes: []
      endpoint_params: {}
    basic_auth:
      enabled: false
      username: ""
      password: ""
    jwt:
      enabled: false
      private_key_file: ""
      signing_method: ""
      claims: {}
      headers: {}
    tls:
      enabled: false
      skip_cert_verify: false
      enable_renegotiation: false
      root_cas: ""
      root_cas_file: ""
      client_certs: []
    extract_headers:
      include_prefixes: []
      include_patterns: []
    rate_limit: "" # No default (optional)
    timeout: 5s
    retry_period: 1s
    max_retry_backoff: 300s
    retries: 3
    follow_redirects: true
    backoff_on:
      - 429
    drop_on: []
    successful_on: []
    proxy_url: "" # No default (optional)
    disable_http2: false
    batch_as_multipart: false
    propagate_response: false
    max_in_flight: 64
    batching:
      count: 0
      byte_size: 0
      period: ""
      check: ""
      processors: [] # No default (optional)
    multipart: []
```

## [](#message-sends)Message sends

The body of the request sent to the HTTP server is the raw contents of the message payload. If the message has multiple parts (is a batch), the request is sent according to [RFC1341](https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc1341/7_2_Multipart.html). To disable this behavior, set the [`batch_as_multipart`](#batch_as_multipart) field to `false`.

When message retries are exhausted, this output rejects a message. Typically, a pipeline then continues attempts to send the message until it succeeds, whilst applying back pressure.

## [](#dynamic-url-and-header-settings)Dynamic URL and header settings

You can set the [`url`](#url) and [`headers`](#headers) values dynamically using [function interpolations](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

## [](#propagate-responses)Propagate responses

To propagate HTTP responses back to the input source, set the [`propagate_response`](#propagate_response) field to `true` . This feature is only available for inputs that support [synchronous responses](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/guides/sync_responses/).

## [](#performance)Performance

For improved performance, this output sends:

-   Multiple messages in parallel. Adjust the `max_in_flight` field value to tune the maximum number of in-flight messages (or message batches).

-   Messages as batches. You can configure batches at both input and output level. For more information, see [Message Batching](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/batching/).


## [](#fields)Fields

### [](#backoff_on)`backoff_on[]`

A list of status codes that indicate a request failure and trigger retries with an increasing backoff period between attempts.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**:

```yaml
- 429
```

### [](#basic_auth)`basic_auth`

Allows you to specify basic authentication.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#basic_auth-enabled)`basic_auth.enabled`

Whether to use basic authentication in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#basic_auth-password)`basic_auth.password`

A password to authenticate with.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#basic_auth-username)`basic_auth.username`

A username to authenticate as.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#batch_as_multipart)`batch_as_multipart`

When set to `true`, sends all message in a batch as a single request using [RFC1341](https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc1341/7_2_Multipart.html).

When set to `false`, sends messages in a batch as individual requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#batching)`batching`

Allows you to configure a [batching policy](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/batching/).

**Type**: `object`

```yaml
# Examples:
batching:
  byte_size: 5000
  count: 0
  period: 1s

# ---

batching:
  count: 10
  period: 1s

# ---

batching:
  check: this.contains("END BATCH")
  count: 0
  period: 1m
```

### [](#batching-byte_size)`batching.byte_size`

The number of bytes at which the batch is flushed. Set to `0` to disable size-based batching.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**: `0`

### [](#batching-check)`batching.check`

A [Bloblang query](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/guides/bloblang/about/) that should return a boolean value indicating whether a message should end a batch.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
check: this.type == "end_of_transaction"
```

### [](#batching-count)`batching.count`

The number of messages after which the batch is flushed. Set to `0` to disable count-based batching.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**: `0`

### [](#batching-period)`batching.period`

The period of time after which an incomplete batch is flushed regardless of its size. This field accepts Go duration format strings such as `100ms`, `1s`, or `5s`.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
period: 1s

# ---

period: 1m

# ---

period: 500ms
```

### [](#batching-processors)`batching.processors[]`

A list of [processors](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/components/processors/about/) to apply to a batch as it is flushed. This allows you to aggregate and archive the batch however you see fit. All resulting messages are flushed as a single batch, and therefore splitting the batch into smaller batches using these processors is a no-op.

**Type**: `processor`

```yaml
# Examples:
processors:
  - archive:
      format: concatenate

# ---

processors:
  - archive:
      format: lines

# ---

processors:
  - archive:
      format: json_array
```

### [](#disable_http2)`disable_http2`

Whether to disable HTTP/2. By default, HTTP/2 is enabled.

Requires version 4.44.0 or later.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#drop_on)`drop_on[]`

A list of status codes that indicate a request failure where the input should not attempt retries. This helps avoid unnecessary retries for requests that are unlikely to succeed.

> 📝 **NOTE**
>
> In these cases, the _request_ is dropped, but the _message_ that triggered the request is retained.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**: `[]`

### [](#dump_request_log_level)`dump_request_log_level`

EXPERIMENTAL: Set the logging level for the request and response payloads of each HTTP request.

Requires version 4.12.0 or later.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

**Options**: `TRACE`, `DEBUG`, `INFO`, `WARN`, `ERROR`, `FATAL`, \`\`

### [](#extract_headers)`extract_headers`

Specify which response headers to add to the resulting synchronous response messages as metadata. Header keys are automatically converted to lowercase before matching, so make sure that your patterns target the lowercase versions of the expected header keys.

This field is only applicable when `propagate_response` is set to `true`.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#extract_headers-include_patterns)`extract_headers.include_patterns[]`

Provide a list of explicit metadata key regular expression (re2) patterns to match against.

**Type**: `array`

**Default**: `[]`

```yaml
# Examples:
include_patterns:
  - .*

# ---

include_patterns:
  - _timestamp_unix$
```

### [](#extract_headers-include_prefixes)`extract_headers.include_prefixes[]`

Provide a list of explicit metadata key prefixes to match against.

**Type**: `array`

**Default**: `[]`

```yaml
# Examples:
include_prefixes:
  - foo_
  - bar_

# ---

include_prefixes:
  - kafka_

# ---

include_prefixes:
  - content-
```

### [](#follow_redirects)`follow_redirects`

Whether or not to transparently follow redirects, i.e. responses with 300-399 status codes. If disabled, the response message will contain the body, status, and headers from the redirect response and the processor will not make a request to the URL set in the Location header of the response.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `true`

### [](#headers)`headers`

A map of headers to add to the request. This field supports [interpolation functions](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `{}`

```yaml
# Examples:
headers:
  Content-Type: application/octet-stream
  traceparent: ${! tracing_span().traceparent }
```

### [](#jwt)`jwt`

Beta

Configure JSON Web Token (JWT) authentication. This feature is in beta and may change in future releases. JWT tokens provide secure, stateless authentication between services.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#jwt-claims)`jwt.claims`

A value used to identify the claims that issued the JWT.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `{}`

### [](#jwt-enabled)`jwt.enabled`

Whether to use JWT authentication in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#jwt-headers)`jwt.headers`

Additional key-value pairs to include in the JWT header (optional). These headers provide extra metadata for JWT processing.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `{}`

### [](#jwt-private_key_file)`jwt.private_key_file`

Path to a file containing the PEM-encoded private key using PKCS#1 or PKCS#8 format. The private key must be compatible with the algorithm specified in the `signing_method` field.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#jwt-signing_method)`jwt.signing_method`

The cryptographic algorithm used to sign the JWT token. Supported algorithms include RS256, RS384, RS512, and EdDSA. This algorithm must be compatible with the private key specified in the `private_key_file` field.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#max_in_flight)`max_in_flight`

The maximum number of messages to have in flight at a given time. Increase this to improve throughput.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**: `64`

### [](#max_retry_backoff)`max_retry_backoff`

The maximum period to wait between failed requests.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `300s`

### [](#metadata)`metadata`

Specify matching rules that determine which metadata keys to add to the HTTP request as headers (optional).

**Type**: `object`

### [](#metadata-include_patterns)`metadata.include_patterns[]`

Provide a list of explicit metadata key regular expression (re2) patterns to match against.

**Type**: `array`

**Default**: `[]`

```yaml
# Examples:
include_patterns:
  - .*

# ---

include_patterns:
  - _timestamp_unix$
```

### [](#metadata-include_prefixes)`metadata.include_prefixes[]`

Provide a list of explicit metadata key prefixes to match against.

**Type**: `array`

**Default**: `[]`

```yaml
# Examples:
include_prefixes:
  - foo_
  - bar_

# ---

include_prefixes:
  - kafka_

# ---

include_prefixes:
  - content-
```

### [](#multipart)`multipart[]`

EXPERIMENTAL: Create explicit multipart HTTP requests by specifying an array of parts to add to a request. Each part consists of content headers and a data field, which can be populated dynamically.

If populated, this field overrides the [default request creation behavior](#message-sends).

Requires version 3.63.0 or later.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `[]`

### [](#multipart-body)`multipart[].body`

The body of the individual message part.

This field supports [interpolation functions](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
body: ${! this.data.part1 }
```

### [](#multipart-content_disposition)`multipart[].content_disposition`

The content disposition of the individual message part.

This field supports [interpolation functions](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
content_disposition: form-data; name="bin"; filename='${! @AttachmentName }
```

### [](#multipart-content_type)`multipart[].content_type`

The content type of the individual message part.

This field supports [interpolation functions](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
content_type: application/bin
```

### [](#oauth)`oauth`

Configure OAuth version 1.0 authentication for secure API access.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#oauth-access_token)`oauth.access_token`

The value used to gain access to the protected resources on behalf of the user.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-access_token_secret)`oauth.access_token_secret`

The secret that establishes ownership of the `oauth.access_token` in OAuth 1.0 authentication.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-consumer_key)`oauth.consumer_key`

A value used to identify the client to the service provider.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-consumer_secret)`oauth.consumer_secret`

The secret that establishes ownership of the consumer key in OAuth 1.0 authentication.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-enabled)`oauth.enabled`

Whether to use OAuth version 1 in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#oauth2)`oauth2`

Allows you to specify open authentication using OAuth version 2 and the client credentials token flow.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#oauth2-client_key)`oauth2.client_key`

A value used to identify the client to the token provider.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth2-client_secret)`oauth2.client_secret`

The secret used to establish ownership of the client key.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth2-enabled)`oauth2.enabled`

Whether to use OAuth version 2 in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#oauth2-endpoint_params)`oauth2.endpoint_params`

A list of endpoint parameters specified as arrays of strings (optional).

Requires version 4.21.0 or later.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `{}`

```yaml
# Examples:
endpoint_params:
  bar:
    - woof
  foo:
    - meow
    - quack
```

### [](#oauth2-scopes)`oauth2.scopes[]`

A list of requested permissions (optional).

Requires version 3.45.0 or later.

**Type**: `array`

**Default**: `[]`

### [](#oauth2-token_url)`oauth2.token_url`

The URL of the token provider.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#propagate_response)`propagate_response`

Whether to [propagate server responses back](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/guides/sync_responses/) to the input.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#proxy_url)`proxy_url`

A HTTP proxy URL (optional).

**Type**: `string`

### [](#rate_limit)`rate_limit`

A [rate limit](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/components/rate_limits/about/) to throttle requests by (optional).

**Type**: `string`

### [](#retries)`retries`

The maximum number of retry attempts to make.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**: `3`

### [](#retry_period)`retry_period`

The initial period to wait between failed requests before retrying.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `1s`

### [](#successful_on)`successful_on[]`

A list of HTTP status codes that should be considered as successful, even if they are not 2XX codes. This is useful for handling cases where non-2XX codes indicate that the request was processed successfully, such as `303 See Other` or `409 Conflict`.

By default, all 2XX codes are considered successful unless they are specified in `backoff_on` or `drop_on` fields.

**Type**: `int`

**Default**: `[]`

### [](#timeout)`timeout`

A static timeout to apply to requests.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `5s`

### [](#tls)`tls`

Configure Transport Layer Security (TLS) settings to secure network connections. This includes options for standard TLS as well as mutual TLS (mTLS) authentication where both client and server authenticate each other using certificates. Key configuration options include `enabled` to enable TLS, `client_certs` for mTLS authentication, `root_cas`/`root_cas_file` for custom certificate authorities, and `skip_cert_verify` for development environments.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#tls-client_certs)`tls.client_certs[]`

A list of client certificates for mutual TLS (mTLS) authentication. Configure this field to enable mTLS, authenticating the client to the server with these certificates.

You must set `tls.enabled: true` for the client certificates to take effect.

**Certificate pairing rules**: For each certificate item, provide either:

-   Inline PEM data using both `cert` **and** `key` or

-   File paths using both `cert_file` **and** `key_file`.


Mixing inline and file-based values within the same item is not supported.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `[]`

```yaml
# Examples:
client_certs:
  - cert: foo
    key: bar

# ---

client_certs:
  - cert_file: ./example.pem
    key_file: ./example.key
```

### [](#tls-client_certs-cert)`tls.client_certs[].cert`

A plain text certificate to use.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-cert_file)`tls.client_certs[].cert_file`

The path of a certificate to use.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-key)`tls.client_certs[].key`

A plain text certificate key to use.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-key_file)`tls.client_certs[].key_file`

The path of a certificate key to use.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-password)`tls.client_certs[].password`

A plain text password for when the private key is password encrypted in PKCS#1 or PKCS#8 format. The obsolete `pbeWithMD5AndDES-CBC` algorithm is not supported for the PKCS#8 format.

Because the obsolete pbeWithMD5AndDES-CBC algorithm does not authenticate the ciphertext, it is vulnerable to padding oracle attacks that can let an attacker recover the plaintext.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
password: foo

# ---

password: ${KEY_PASSWORD}
```

### [](#tls-enable_renegotiation)`tls.enable_renegotiation`

Whether to allow the remote server to repeatedly request renegotiation. Enable this option if you’re seeing the error message `local error: tls: no renegotiation`.

Requires version 3.45.0 or later.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#tls-enabled)`tls.enabled`

Whether custom TLS settings are enabled.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#tls-root_cas)`tls.root_cas`

Specify a root certificate authority to use (optional). This is a string that represents a certificate chain from the parent-trusted root certificate, through possible intermediate signing certificates, to the host certificate. Use either this field for inline certificate data or `root_cas_file` for file-based certificate loading.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
root_cas: |-
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  ...
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
```

### [](#tls-root_cas_file)`tls.root_cas_file`

Specify the path to a root certificate authority file (optional). This is a file, often with a `.pem` extension, which contains a certificate chain from the parent-trusted root certificate, through possible intermediate signing certificates, to the host certificate. Use either this field for file-based certificate loading or `root_cas` for inline certificate data.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
root_cas_file: ./root_cas.pem
```

### [](#tls-skip_cert_verify)`tls.skip_cert_verify`

Whether to skip server-side certificate verification. Set to `true` only for testing environments as this reduces security by disabling certificate validation. When using self-signed certificates or in development, this may be necessary, but should never be used in production. Consider using `root_cas` or `root_cas_file` to specify trusted certificates instead of disabling verification entirely.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#url)`url`

The URL to connect to. This field supports [interpolation functions](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

**Type**: `string`

### [](#verb)`verb`

A verb to connect with.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `POST`

```yaml
# Examples:
verb: POST

# ---

verb: GET

# ---

verb: DELETE
```