How to use HttpClient instead of RestClient in a .NET 6

Question

For example my rest client looks something like this:

 var client = new RestClient("test/oauth/token");
        var request = new RestRequest(Method.POST);
        request.AddHeader("content-type", "application/json");
        request.AddParameter("application/json", "{\"client_id\":\test123123123\",\"client_secret\":\"fsdfsdhkfsjdhf\",\"audience\":\"https://test.auth0.com/api/v2/\",\"grant_type\":\"client_credentials\"}", ParameterType.RequestBody);
        IRestResponse response = client.Execute(request);

The code above works but I wanted to convert this to HTTP client instead, just not sure how to do it

RestClient uses HttpClient underneath. You shouldn't be writing JSON by hand either. This code can be replaced with `HttpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("test/oauth/token",someObject);` where `someObject` an object with the properties you want. BUT there are OAuth clients that can be used instead of hand-coded calls — Panagiotis Kanavos, Oct 25 '22 at 14:16
Yes, but what if I don't want to use RestClient since it is a third party library ? — HJ1990, Oct 25 '22 at 14:43
@HJ1990 then don't use it. There are a lot of examples how to use `HttpClient` (either directly or via `IHttpClientFactory`, the latter one preferable) to make requests. What is an exact problem? — Guru Stron, Oct 25 '22 at 14:50
I already posted the single line needed to POST an object as JSON — Panagiotis Kanavos, Oct 25 '22 at 15:08
Loosely related.. but you can see 2 answers (one as RestClient, one as HttpClient) here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38494279/how-do-i-get-an-oauth-2-0-authentication-token-in-c-sharp/53787718#53787718 — granadaCoder, Oct 25 '22 at 15:12
I super agree with the "PostAsJsonAsync" comment. Stop creating json (or xml) with string manipulation. #please #beggingYou — granadaCoder, Oct 25 '22 at 15:13
Seeing the content of your JSON, I think you might be interested in OAuth/OIDC library such as IdentityModel to help you implement it correctly. See https://identitymodel.readthedocs.io/en/latest/client/overview.html — GrayCat, Oct 25 '22 at 15:20

Guru Stron · Answer 1 · 2022-10-25T15:09:42.393

The are a lot of examples including official documentation on how to make requests with HttpClient. For example:

static async Task PostAsJsonAsync(HttpClient httpClient)
{
    using HttpResponseMessage response = await httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync(
        "todos", 
        new Todo(UserId: 9, Id: 99, Title: "Show extensions", Completed: false));

    response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode()
        .WriteRequestToConsole();

    var todo = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<Todo>();
    WriteLine($"{todo}\n");

    // Expected output:
    //   POST https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos HTTP/1.1
    //   Todo { UserId = 9, Id = 201, Title = Show extensions, Completed = False }
}

Currently the recommended pattern of setting up/creating/consuming HttpClient's is by using IHttpClientFactory:

Upvote. And super-agree with the "learn how to use IHttpClientFactory" (vs "new'ing up a new HttpClient) — granadaCoder, Oct 25 '22 at 15:10

How to use HttpClient instead of RestClient in a .NET 6

1 Answers1