netcorelink/libchttpx

A powerful, cross-platform HTTP server library in C/C++ for building full-featured web servers

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netcorelink/libchttpx a powerful, cross-platform HTTP server library in C/C++ for building full-featured web servers.

Linux

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/netcorelink/libchttpx/main/scripts/install.sh | sudo sh

Windows

iwr https://raw.githubusercontent.com/netcorelink/libchttpx/main/scripts/install.ps1 -UseBasicParsing | iex

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libchttpx documentation

1 | Initial HTTP server

#include <libchttpx.h>

int main()
{
  chttpx_server_t serv;

  if (cHTTPX_Init(&serv, 80) != 0) {
    printf("Failed to start server\n");
    return 1;
  }

  // cores
  // middlewares
  // routes

  /* At the very end, to start listening to incoming requests from users. */
  cHTTPX_Listen();
}

2 | Server timeouts settings

/* Timeouts */
serv.read_timeout_sec = 300;
serv.write_timeout_sec = 300;
serv.idle_timeout_sec = 90;

3 | CORS Settings

origins – Array of allowed origin strings (e.g. "https://example.com"). Each origin must match exactly the value of the "Origin" header.

origins_count – Number of elements in the origins array.

methods – Comma-separated list of allowed HTTP methods. If NULL, defaults to: "GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS".

headers – Comma-separated list of allowed request headers. If NULL, defaults to: "Content-Type".

/* Cors */
const char *allowed_origins[] = {
  "https://exmaple.ru",
  "http://localhost:8080",
};

cHTTPX_Cors(allowed_origins, cHTTPX_ARRAY_LEN(allowed_origins), NULL, NULL);

4 | Middlewares

Example: Middleware for checking the authenticated user.

chttpx_middleware_result_t auth_middleware(chttpx_request_t *req, chttpx_response_t *res) {
  const char *token = cHTTPX_Header(req, "Auth-Token");

  if (!token) {
    *res = cHTTPX_JsonResponse(cHTTPX_StatusUnauthorized, "{\"error\": \"unauthorized\"}");
    return out;
  }

  return next;
}

Middlewares are connected before cHTTPX_Route.

cHTTPX_MiddlewareUse(auth_middleware);

5 | Routes

method – HTTP method string, e.g., "GET", "POST".

path – URL path to match, e.g., "/users".

handler – Function pointer to handle the request. The handler should return httpx_response_t. This allows the server to call the appropriate function when a matching request is received.

cHTTPX_Route("GET", "/", home_index);
cHTTPX_Route("GET", "/users/{uuid}/{org}", get_user); // ?org=netcorelink
cHTTPX_Route("POST", "/users", create_user);

6 | Handlers

HTML page return.

Return type from chttpx_response_t functions.

chttpx_response_t home_index(chttpx_request_t *req) {
  return (chttpx_response_t){cHTTPX_StatusOK, cHTTPX_CTYPE_HTML, "<h1>This is home page!</h1>"};
}

7 | Http Response

Option 1

Suitable for responses with unknown Content-Type libraries.

return (chttpx_response_t){cHTTPX_StatusOK, cHTTPX_CTYPE_JSON, "Hello, world!"};

Option 2

Suitable for errors or JSON responses with and without parameters.

return cHTTPX_JsonResponse(cHTTPX_StatusOK, "{\"message\": {\"uuid\": \"%s\", \"page\": \"%s\"}}", uuid, page);

8 | Http Request

9 | Parsing JSON fields

typedef struct {
  char *uuid;
  char *password;
  int is_admin;
} user_t;

chttpx_response_t create_user(chttpx_request_t *req) {
  user_t user;

  chttpx_validation_t fields[] = {
    chttpx_validation_str("uuid", true, 0, 36, &user.uuid),
    chttpx_validation_str("password", true, 6, 16, &user.password),
    chttpx_validation_bool("is_admin", false, &user.is_admin)
  };

  if (!cHTTPX_Parse(req, fields, cHTTPX_ARRAY_LEN(fields))) {
    return cHTTPX_JsonResponse(cHTTPX_StatusBadRequest, "{\"error\": \"%s\"}", req->error_msg);
  }

  /* ... */
}

When working with cHTTPX_Parse, you need to refer to req->error_msg.

10 | Validations fields

Validates an array of cHTTPX_FieldValidation structures.

This function ensures that required fields are present, string lengths are within limits, and basic validation for integers and boolean fields is performed.

When working with cHTTPX_Validate, you need to refer to req->error_msg.

if (!cHTTPX_Validate(req, fields, cHTTPX_ARRAY_LEN(fields))) {
  return cHTTPX_JsonResponse(cHTTPX_StatusBadRequest, "{\"error\": \"%s\"}", req->error_msg);
}

Example response by validation:

• Field password is required.
• Field password min length is 6.
• Field password max length is 16.

11 | Get Headers

const char *origin = cHTTPX_Header(req, "Origin");

cHTTPX_Header - Get a request header by name.

Parameters:

• req – Pointer to the HTTP request.
• name – Header name (case-insensitive).

12 | Get Params

The path must contain the /{uuid} construct.

const char *uuid = cHTTPX_Param(req, "uuid");

cHTTPX_Param - Get a route parameter value by its name.

Parameters:

• req – Pointer to the HTTP request.
• name – Name of the route parameter (e.g., "uuid").

13 | Get Query params

const char *sizeParam = cHTTPX_Query(req, "size");

cHTTPX_Query - Get a query parameter value by name.

Parameters:

• req – Pointer to the HTTP request.
• name – Name of the query parameter.