HTTP Request

Sends workflow data to an HTTP endpoint.

Finding it in the library

Search the builder's node library for HTTP Request (it lives under Output). A single click opens the in-editor docs panel shown here — description, ports, and every property, without leaving the canvas. Double-click (or drag) to add it to the workflow.

Wired up in the builder

HTTP Request in a real, runnable flow — captured live from the Studio editor, exactly as it looks on your canvas. This is the same workflow used for the example input & output below.

How it’s configured

The node’s Configure panel as it opens in the builder when you select the step — every setting laid out with real values. Click any field to edit it.

Ports

Ports are the node’s contract with its neighbours. In the editor a port label renders bold when wired and italic when optional; ◈ ports accept attachment carriers rather than data wires.

How data flows through it

HTTP Request consumes the content of the incoming envelope — when it is fed directly by a trigger, the trigger’s wrapper is unwrapped at the node boundary so the node sees the actual data, not the metadata shell. Its output becomes the payload for the next node, while the envelope (trace ids, correlation, binary refs) rides along untouched. In the Runs view you always see the whole envelope for both sides of this node.

Expressions in the config

String-typed properties accept {{ }} expressions evaluated against the incoming item at run time — e.g. {{ $json.customer.email }}. On this node that’s url, targetUrl, targetUrlConfigKey, authUser, authPassword, authToken, authName, authValue, authConsumerKey, authConsumerSecret, authTokenSecret, userAgent. JSON- and code-typed fields never interpolate — they are passed through literally.

Build it with AI

Every node in this reference is reachable through Flowdrome’s AI Copilot and the MCP tools — say what you want, and the graph surgery happens server-side. Node types resolve fuzzily, so the catalog label (HTTP Request) works as well as the exact type id (output.http-request).

In the Copilot panel (or any connected AI):

add a http request node after the trigger

As a step in a create_chain_workflow call:

{"type":"HTTP Request","config":{}}

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:48170/mcp -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "1", "method": "tools/call", "params": { "name": "add_node", "arguments": { "workflowId": "<id>", "type": "HTTP Request" } } }'

Example input & output

Captured from a real test run of the workflow above — this is what you see in the run data panel after pressing Test workflow.

On this run the node emitted on ports success, output.

Input — what the node received

Output — what the node produced

Property reference

Every setting, with its type and default — the same fields shown configured in the panel above.

Using it

Fetch and use a JSON API — no glue code

Set Method and URL — the URL field takes {{ }} expressions, so https://api.example.com/orders/{{ $json.orderId }} builds the path from the incoming data. With Parse JSON responses on (the default for new nodes), the response body arrives as a parsed value: the next node reads {{ $json.body.status }} or {{ $json.body.items.length }} directly — no script node, no JSON.parse.

The example capture above shows the result shape: status code, headers, and the parsed body side by side on the output envelope.

Scrape, then shape (the shipped Scrape Headlines demo)

A plain GET against a page feeds HTML Extract (CSS selectors) → Split Out → Sort → Limit. The whole pipeline is list nodes; the request node just delivers body.

Tips

• Parse JSON responses keeps the raw string in bodyText alongside the parsed body; malformed JSON sets parseFailed instead of failing the node. Workflows saved before this option keep their original string-body behavior.
• The URL, headers and body fields all take {{ }} expressions.
• Client (User-Agent): pick a browser, phone, or crawler to appear as — or Custom for your own string. Some APIs (e.g. weather.gov) reject requests that arrive without a User-Agent; an explicit User-Agent in Headers always wins over the preset.
• Outbound requests pass an SSRF guard — private-range targets are refused unless the engine is configured to allow them.
• Binary responses (images, PDFs) become first-class binary items that S3 / Write File / Telegram media operations consume directly.

Related nodes

The rest of the Output group — the same folder you’d scan in the editor’s library.

• Play Audio Plays binary audio (e.g
• Show Image Shows a binary image (e.g
• Send Message Sends a normalized message to Gmail, Slack, Telegram, Discord, or a generic webhook endpoint.
• Respond to Webhook Answers the HTTP trigger's request mid-flow with a status, headers, and body — the run continues afterwards
• Send Email Sends an email over SMTP (STARTTLS/TLS/none, AUTH PLAIN/LOGIN)
• Slack Sends a Slack message (text or Block Kit blocks) to a channel via chat.postMessage with a bot token
• Discord Sends a Discord message through a webhook or as a bot (token + channel)
• Telegram Works with the Telegram Bot API: send/edit/delete/pin messages, chat actions, media uploads (photo, document,

This page is generated from the node registry by gen-node-docs.mjs on every site build — ports, properties, defaults and visibility rules cannot drift from the code. The screenshots and example data are captured from a live Flowdrome by npm run shots:nodes and npm run gen:examples. The hand-authored notes above are merged in.