Add --multipart and --boundary

CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ This project adheres to `Semantic Versioning <https://semver.org/>`_.
 * Added support for combining cookies specified on the CLI and in a session file (`#932`_).
 * Added out of the box SOCKS support with no extra installation (`#904`_).
 * Added ``--quiet, -q`` flag to enforce silent behaviour.
+* Added ``--multipart`` to allow ``multipart/form-data`` encoding for non-file ``--form`` requests as well.
+* Added ``--boundary`` to allow a custom boundary string for ``multipart/form-data`` requests.
 * Removed Tox testing entirely (`#943`_).
 
 

README.rst

@@ -698,6 +698,66 @@ Larger multipart uploads (i.e., ``--form`` requests with at least one ``file@pat
 are always streamed to avoid memory issues. Additionally, the display of the
 request body on the terminal is suppressed.
 
+You can explicitly use ``--multipart`` to enforce ``multipart/form-data`` even
+for form requests without any files:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ http --form --multipart --offline example.org/ hello=world
+
+.. code-block:: http
+
+    POST / HTTP/1.1
+    Content-Length: 129
+    Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb
+    Host: example.org
+
+    --c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb
+    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="hello"
+
+    world
+    --c31279ab254f40aeb06df32b433cbccb--
+
+By default, HTTPie uses a random unique string as the boundary. You may use
+the ``--boundary`` option to specify a custom boundary string instead:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ http --form --multipart --boundary=XOXO --offline example.org/ hello=world
+
+.. code-block:: http
+
+    POST / HTTP/1.1
+    Content-Length: 129
+    Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=XOXO
+    Host: example.org
+
+    --XOXO
+    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="hello"
+
+    world
+    --XOXO--
+
+If you specify a custom ``Content-Type`` header without including the boundary
+bit, HTTPie will add the boundary value (specified or generated) to the header
+automatically:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+    http --form --multipart --boundary=XOXO --offline example.org/ hello=world Content-Type:love/letter
+
+.. code-block:: http
+
+    POST / HTTP/1.1
+    Content-Length: 129
+    Content-Type: love/letter; boundary=XOXO
+    Host: example.org
+
+    --XOXO
+    Content-Disposition: form-data; name="hello"
+
+    world
+    --XOXO--
+
 
 HTTP headers
 ============

httpie/cli/argparser.py

@@ -75,16 +75,13 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
     ) -> argparse.Namespace:
         self.env = env
         self.args, no_options = super().parse_known_args(args, namespace)
-
         if self.args.debug:
             self.args.traceback = True
-
         self.has_stdin_data = (
             self.env.stdin
             and not self.args.ignore_stdin
             and not self.env.stdin_isatty
         )
-
         # Arguments processing and environment setup.
         self._apply_no_options(no_options)
         self._process_download_options()
@@ -94,11 +91,15 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
         self._process_format_options()
         self._guess_method()
         self._parse_items()
-
         if self.has_stdin_data:
             self._body_from_file(self.env.stdin)
+        self._process_url()
+        self._process_auth()
+        return self.args
+
+    def _process_url(self):
         if not URL_SCHEME_RE.match(self.args.url):
-            if os.path.basename(env.program_name) == 'https':
+            if os.path.basename(self.env.program_name) == 'https':
                 scheme = 'https://'
             else:
                 scheme = self.args.default_scheme + "://"
@@ -114,9 +115,6 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
                 self.args.url += rest
             else:
                 self.args.url = scheme + self.args.url
-        self._process_auth()
-
-        return self.args
 
     # noinspection PyShadowingBuiltins
     def _print_message(self, message, file=None):

httpie/cli/definition.py

@@ -161,6 +161,25 @@ content_type.add_argument(
 
     '''
 )
+content_type.add_argument(
+    '--multipart',
+    default=False,
+    action='store_true',
+    help='''
+    Force the request to be encoded as multipart/form-data even without
+    any file fields. Only has effect only together with --form.
+
+    '''
+)
+content_type.add_argument(
+    '--boundary',
+    help='''
+    Specify a custom boundary string for multipart/form-data requests.
+    Only has effect only together with --form.
+
+    '''
+)
+
 
 #######################################################################
 # Content processing.

httpie/client.py

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from httpie.cli.dicts import RequestHeadersDict
 from httpie.plugins.registry import plugin_manager
 from httpie.sessions import get_httpie_session
 from httpie.ssl import AVAILABLE_SSL_VERSION_ARG_MAPPING, HTTPieHTTPSAdapter
-from httpie.uploads import get_multipart_data
+from httpie.uploads import get_multipart_data_and_content_type
 from httpie.utils import get_expired_cookies, repr_dict
 
 
@@ -276,8 +276,13 @@ def make_request_kwargs(
     headers.update(args.headers)
     headers = finalize_headers(headers)
 
-    if args.form and files:
+    if args.form and (files or args.multipart):
-        data, headers['Content-Type'] = get_multipart_data(data, files)
+        data, headers['Content-Type'] = get_multipart_data_and_content_type(
+            data=data,
+            files=files,
+            boundary=args.boundary,
+            content_type=args.headers.get('Content-Type'),
+        )
         files = None
 
     kwargs = {

httpie/uploads.py

@@ -1,20 +1,32 @@
 from typing import Tuple, Union
 
-from httpie.cli.dicts import RequestDataDict, RequestFilesDict
 from requests_toolbelt import MultipartEncoder
 
+from httpie.cli.dicts import RequestDataDict, RequestFilesDict
+
 
 # Multipart uploads smaller than this size gets buffered (otherwise streamed).
 # NOTE: Unbuffered upload requests cannot be displayed on the terminal.
 UPLOAD_BUFFER = 1024 * 100
 
 
-def get_multipart_data(
+def get_multipart_data_and_content_type(
     data: RequestDataDict,
-    files: RequestFilesDict
+    files: RequestFilesDict,
+    boundary: str = None,
+    content_type: str = None,
 ) -> Tuple[Union[MultipartEncoder, bytes], str]:
     fields = list(data.items()) + list(files.items())
-    encoder = MultipartEncoder(fields=fields)
+    encoder = MultipartEncoder(
-    content_type = encoder.content_type
+        fields=fields,
+        boundary=boundary,
+    )
+    if content_type:
+        content_type = content_type.strip()  # maybe auto-strip all headers somewhere
+        if 'boundary=' not in content_type:
+            content_type = f'{content_type}; boundary={encoder.boundary_value}'
+    else:
+        content_type = encoder.content_type
+
     data = encoder.to_string() if encoder.len < UPLOAD_BUFFER else encoder
     return data, content_type

tests/test_uploads.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from unittest import mock
 import pytest
 
 from httpie.cli.exceptions import ParseError
+from httpie.client import FORM_CONTENT_TYPE
 from httpie.output.streams import LARGE_UPLOAD_SUPPRESSED_NOTICE
 from httpie.status import ExitStatus
 from utils import MockEnvironment, http, HTTP_OK
@@ -67,6 +68,79 @@ class TestMultipartFormDataFileUpload:
         assert r.count(FILE_CONTENT) == 1
         assert LARGE_UPLOAD_SUPPRESSED_NOTICE.decode() in r
 
+    def test_form_no_files_urlencoded(self, httpbin):
+        r = http(
+            '--form',
+            '--verbose',
+            httpbin.url + '/post',
+            'AAAA=AAA',
+            'BBB=BBB',
+        )
+        assert HTTP_OK in r
+        assert FORM_CONTENT_TYPE in r
+
+    def test_form_no_files_multipart(self, httpbin):
+        r = http(
+            '--form',
+            '--verbose',
+            '--multipart',
+            httpbin.url + '/post',
+            'AAAA=AAA',
+            'BBB=BBB',
+        )
+        assert HTTP_OK in r
+        assert FORM_CONTENT_TYPE not in r
+        assert 'multipart/form-data' in r
+
+    def test_form_multipart_custom_boundary(self, httpbin):
+        boundary = 'HTTPIE_FTW'
+        r = http(
+            '--print=HB',
+            '--check-status',
+            '--form',
+            '--multipart',
+            f'--boundary={boundary}',
+            httpbin.url + '/post',
+            'AAAA=AAA',
+            'BBB=BBB',
+        )
+        assert f'multipart/form-data; boundary={boundary}' in r
+        assert r.count(boundary) == 4
+
+    def test_multipart_custom_content_type_boundary_added(self, httpbin):
+        boundary = 'HTTPIE_FTW'
+        r = http(
+            '--print=HB',
+            '--check-status',
+            '--form',
+            '--multipart',
+            f'--boundary={boundary}',
+            httpbin.url + '/post',
+            'Content-Type: multipart/magic',
+            'AAAA=AAA',
+            'BBB=BBB',
+        )
+        assert f'multipart/magic; boundary={boundary}' in r
+        assert r.count(boundary) == 4
+
+    def test_multipart_custom_content_type_boundary_preserved(self, httpbin):
+        # Allow explicit nonsense requests.
+        boundary_in_header = 'HEADER_BOUNDARY'
+        boundary_in_body = 'BODY_BOUNDARY'
+        r = http(
+            '--form',
+            '--print=HB',
+            '--check-status',
+            '--multipart',
+            f'--boundary={boundary_in_body}',
+            httpbin.url + '/post',
+            f'Content-Type: multipart/magic; boundary={boundary_in_header}',
+            'AAAA=AAA',
+            'BBB=BBB',
+        )
+        assert f'multipart/magic; boundary={boundary_in_header}' in r
+        assert r.count(boundary_in_body) == 3
+
 
 class TestRequestBodyFromFilePath:
     """