HTTP/2 Support

Enable HTTP/2 protocol with multiplexing for faster, more efficient API requests.

OverviewCopy Anchor Link

HTTP/2 offers significant performance improvements over HTTP/1.1 including multiplexing, header compression, and better connection utilization. Enable it with the --http2 flag to take advantage of modern server infrastructure.

• Multiplexing: Multiple requests over a single connection
• Lower Latency: Reduced connection overhead and faster responses
• Header Compression: Automatic HPACK compression for headers

Basic UsageCopy Anchor Link

Enable HTTP/2 with the --http2 CLI flag.

# Enable HTTP/2 for all requests
curl-runner api.yaml --http2

# Combine with other flags
curl-runner api.yaml --http2 -p -v

# Run a directory with HTTP/2
curl-runner tests/ --http2

YAML ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

Configure HTTP/2 in your YAML files globally or per-request.

Global ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

# Enable HTTP/2 for every request in the file
global:
  http2: true

requests:
  - name: Get Users
    url: https://api.example.com/users
    method: GET

  - name: Get Posts
    url: https://api.example.com/posts
    method: GET

global.defaults.http2 works too and wins over global.http2 if both are set.

Per-Request ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

# Enable HTTP/2 per request
requests:
  - name: HTTP/2 Request
    url: https://api.example.com/data
    http2: true

  - name: HTTP/1.1 Request
    url: https://legacy-api.example.com/data
    http2: false

Environment VariablesCopy Anchor Link

Enable HTTP/2 via environment variable for scripted workflows and CI/CD pipelines.

• CURL_RUNNER_HTTP2: Enable HTTP/2 protocol (true/false)

# Enable HTTP/2 via environment variable
CURL_RUNNER_HTTP2=true curl-runner api.yaml

# Useful in scripts or CI/CD
export CURL_RUNNER_HTTP2=true
curl-runner tests/

With Parallel ExecutionCopy Anchor Link

Combine HTTP/2 with parallel execution for maximum performance. HTTP/2 multiplexing works particularly well with concurrent requests.

# Combine HTTP/2 with parallel execution for maximum performance
curl-runner api.yaml --http2 -p --max-concurrent 10

Or configure it in YAML:

global:
  execution: parallel
  maxConcurrency: 10
  http2: true

requests:
  - name: Request 1
    url: https://api.example.com/endpoint1
  - name: Request 2
    url: https://api.example.com/endpoint2
  - name: Request 3
    url: https://api.example.com/endpoint3

Best PracticesCopy Anchor Link

• Recommended
  • Use HTTP/2 for modern APIs that support it
  • Combine with parallel execution for best results
  • Enable globally when testing HTTP/2 servers
  • Use environment variable in CI/CD pipelines
• Notes
  • Server must support HTTP/2 (most modern servers do)
  • Falls back to HTTP/1.1 if server doesn't support it
  • Requires HTTPS for most servers (HTTP/2 over TLS)
  • Per-request http2 overrides the global setting; the --http2 flag enables it for requests that do not set http2