HTTP Request

The HTTP Request node is one of the most versatile nodes in Mosaic Workflows. It allows you to make HTTP requests to query data from any app or service with a REST API.

When using this node, you're creating a REST API call. You need some understanding of basic API terminology and concepts.

There are two ways to create an HTTP request: configure the node fields or import a curl command.

Credentials

Refer to HTTP Request credentials for guidance on setting up authentication.

Node parameters

Method

Select the method to use for the request:

  • DELETE
  • GET
  • HEAD
  • OPTIONS
  • PATCH
  • POST
  • PUT

URL

Enter the endpoint you want to use.

Authentication

Mosaic Workflows recommends using the Predefined Credential Type option when it's available. It offers an easier way to set up and manage credentials, compared to configuring generic credentials.

Predefined credentials

Select Predefined Credential Type. This allows you to perform custom operations, without additional authentication setup. For example, Mosaic Workflows has an Asana node, and supports using your Asana credentials in the HTTP Request node.

Generic credentials

Select Generic Credential Type to set up authentication using one of the following methods:

  • Basic Auth
  • Custom Auth
  • Digest Auth
  • Header Auth
  • OAuth1 API
  • OAuth2 API
  • Query Auth

Refer to HTTP request credentials for more information setting up each credential type.

Parameters, headers, and body

You can choose to send additional information with your request. The data you need to send depends on the API you're interacting with, and the type of request you're making. Refer to your service's API documentation for detailed guidance.

  • Send Query Parameters : include query parameters. Query parameters are usually used as filters or searches on your query.
  • Send Headers : include request headers. Headers contain metadata about your request.
  • Send Body : send additional information in the body of your request.

Node options

Select Add Option to view and select these options.

  • Batching : control how to batch large numbers of input items.
  • Ignore SSL Issues : download the response even if SSL validation isn't possible.
  • Redirects : choose whether to follow redirects. Enabled by default.
  • Response : provide settings about the expected API response.
  • Pagination : handle query results that are too big for the API to return in a single call.
  • Proxy : use this if you need to specify an HTTP proxy.
  • Timeout : set a timeout for the request.

Pagination

Use this option to paginate results.

??? Details "Understand pagination" Pagination means splitting a large set of data into multiple pages. The amount of data on each page depends on the limit you set.

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For example, you make an API call to an endpoint called `/users`. The API wants to send back information on 300 users, but this is too much data for the API to send in one response. 

If the API supports pagination, you can incrementally fetch the data. To do this, you call `/users` with a pagination limit, and a page number or URL to tell the API which page to send. In this example, say you use a limit of 10, and start from page 0. The API sends the first 10 users in its response. You then call the API again, increasing the page number by 1, to get the next 10 results.

Configure the pagination settings:

  • Pagination Mode :
    • Off : turn off pagination.
    • Update a Parameter in Each Request : use this when you need to dynamically set parameters for each request.
    • Response Contains Next URL : use this when the API response includes the URL of the next page. Use an expression to set Next URL .

For example setups, refer to HTTP Request node cookbook | Pagination.

Mosaic Workflows provides built-in variables for working with HTTP node requests and responses when using pagination:

Variable Description
$pageCount The pagination count. Tracks how many pages the node has fetched.
$request The request object sent by the HTTP node.
$response The response object from the HTTP call. Includes $response.body, $response.headers, and $response.statusCode. The contents of body and headers depend on the data sent by the API.

Import curl command

curl is a command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs.

You can use curl to call REST APIs. If the API documentation of the service you want to use provides curl examples, you can copy them out of the documentation and into Mosaic Workflows to configure the HTTP Request node.

Import a curl command:

  1. Select Import cURL command .
  2. Paste in your curl command.
  3. Select Import . Mosaic Workflows loads the request configuration into the node fields. This overwrites any existing configuration.