Convert curl to Go net/http

Converting curl to Go net/http

Go's standard library net/http package is powerful enough for most HTTP tasks without any third-party dependencies. Converting curl to Go requires understanding Go's explicit error handling and io.Reader patterns.

GET Request

curl:

curl https://api.example.com/users

Go:

resp, err := http.Get("https://api.example.com/users")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
defer resp.Body.Close()

body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println(string(body))

POST with JSON

curl:

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Alice"}'

Go:

payload := strings.NewReader(`{"name": "Alice"}`)
req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.example.com/users", payload)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

client := &http.Client{}
resp, err := client.Do(req)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
defer resp.Body.Close()

Custom Headers

req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.example.com/me", nil)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer token123")
req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")

Timeout and Transport Configuration

curl:

curl --connect-timeout 5 --max-time 30 https://api.example.com/data

Go:

client := &http.Client{
    Timeout: 30 * time.Second,
}

Key Patterns in Go

• Always defer resp.Body.Close() to prevent resource leaks
• Use http.NewRequest for full control over method, headers, and body
• Use json.NewEncoder and json.NewDecoder for structured data
• Handle errors explicitly at every step, as Go does not have exceptions
• Use context.WithTimeout for request-scoped cancellation

Go's net/http is verbose compared to curl but gives you explicit control over every aspect of the HTTP lifecycle, making it ideal for production services where reliability matters.