purl

Pure Python URL transfer tool

Overview

purl is a pure Python alternative to curl, providing HTTP request functionality without external dependencies. Perfect for downloading files, making API requests, and testing HTTP endpoints.

Full Name: Pure Python URL
Version: 0.1.1
Equivalent: curl
Repository: github.com/pynosaur/purl

Features

• HTTP GET, POST, PUT, DELETE requests
• Custom headers
• Download to file or stdout
• Follow redirects
• Response headers display
• Verbose mode
• Pure Python - no external dependencies

Installation

# Via pget
pget install purl

# From source
git clone https://github.com/pynosaur/purl.git
cd purl
bazel build //:purl_bin
cp bazel-bin/purl ~/.local/bin/

Usage

Basic Requests

# Basic GET request
purl https://example.com

# Show help
purl --help

# Show version
purl --version

Download to File

# Save to file
purl -o page.html https://example.com

# Download archive
purl -o archive.tar.gz https://example.com/file.tar.gz

Response Headers

# Show response headers
purl -i https://api.github.com

# Check headers only
purl -i https://example.com

Custom Headers

# Single header
purl -H "Accept: application/json" https://api.github.com

# Multiple headers
purl -H "Authorization: Bearer token" -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://api.example.com

POST Requests

# POST with data
purl -X POST -d "key=value" https://api.example.com

# POST JSON
purl -X POST -d '{"key":"value"}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://api.example.com

Other HTTP Methods

# PUT request
purl -X PUT -d "data" https://api.example.com/resource

# DELETE request
purl -X DELETE https://api.example.com/resource

Verbose Mode

# Show detailed output
purl --verbose https://example.com

Options

• -h, --help - Show help message
• -v, --version - Show version information
• -o, --output FILE - Write output to file instead of stdout
• -H, --header HEADER - Add custom header (can be used multiple times)
• -X, --request METHOD - HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
• -d, --data DATA - HTTP POST data
• -i, --include - Include response headers in output
• -L, --location - Follow redirects (default behavior)
• --verbose - Show verbose output

Examples

Fetch a webpage:

purl https://example.com

API request with JSON:

purl -H "Accept: application/json" https://api.github.com/users/pynosaur

POST to API:

purl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"test"}' \
  https://api.example.com/data

Download file with progress:

purl --verbose -o download.zip https://example.com/file.zip

Check API headers:

purl -i https://api.example.com/status

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