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Boost.HTTP

This is currently NOT an official Boost library.

Overview

HTTP powers the web, but implementing it correctly in C++ is surprisingly hard. Boost.HTTP gives you the entire HTTP/1.1 protocol stack — from raw parsing up to complete clients and servers — without tying you to any network library.

The library follows a Sans-I/O architecture at every layer. Even high-level clients and servers operate on abstract, type-erased stream interfaces rather than concrete sockets. There is no dependency on any networking or I/O library — not even in the implementation files. You bring your own transport.

The execution model is coroutines-only, built on Boost.Capy, a C++20 coroutine I/O foundation that provides task types, buffer sequences, stream concepts, and type-erased stream wrappers.

Features

• Multiple levels of abstraction — low-level parsing and serialization through complete clients and servers
• Sans-I/O from top to bottom — works with any I/O framework (Asio, io_uring, platform APIs)
• Coroutines-only execution model built on Capy
• Type-erased streams reflecting buffer-oriented I/O
• Express.js-style router with pattern matching and middleware composition
• High-level components: static file serving, form processing, cookie handling, cryptographic utilities
• Content encodings (gzip, deflate, brotli)
• Strict RFC 9110 compliance to prevent common security issues
• Fast compilation, minimal template exposure

Quick Example

#include <boost/http.hpp>

using namespace boost::http;

int main()
{
    // Build a request
    request req(method::get, "/api/users");
    req.set(field::host, "example.com");
    req.set(field::accept, "application/json");

    // Build a response
    response res(status::ok);
    res.set(field::content_type, "application/json");
    res.set(field::content_length, "42");

    // Access the serialized form
    std::cout << req.buffer();
    std::cout << res.buffer();
}

Output:

GET /api/users HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Accept: application/json

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 42

Design

The Sans-I/O separation yields concrete benefits:

Reusability. The same HTTP code works with any transport. Write the protocol logic once, plug in any I/O framework.

Testability. Tests run as pure function calls without sockets, timers, or network delays. Coverage is higher, execution is faster, results are deterministic.

Security. The parser is strict by default. Malformed input that could enable request smuggling or header injection is rejected immediately.

Requirements

• C++20 compiler with coroutine support
• Boost libraries (core, system)
• Link to the static or dynamic library

Supported Compilers

• GCC: 11 to 14
• Clang: 14 to 18
• MSVC: 14.3 to 14.42

License

Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at https://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)