TIL: Testing HTTP Endpoints Locally With httpbin

httpbin is a simple HTTP request and response service. Send it a request, it tells you what you sent. It is invaluable for debugging clients.

curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post   -H 'Content-Type: application/json'   -d '{hello: world}'

The response includes headers, body, origin IP, URL params, and more. You see exactly what your HTTP client sent on the wire.

{
  headers: {
    Content-Type: application/json,
    User-Agent: curl/7.64.1
  },
  json: {hello: world}
}

I used httpbin to debug Vonage API integrations. When a webhook payload was not arriving the way I expected, I pointed the client at httpbin first. Nine times out of ten the issue was in how I was constructing the request, not in the API.

Can I run httpbin locally?

Yes. It is a Python Flask app. Run it with Docker or install it directly for offline testing.