[json] How do I send a JSON string in a POST request in Go

I tried working with Apiary and made a universal template to send JSON to mock server and have this code:

package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "github.com/jmcvetta/napping"
    "log"
    "net/http"
)

func main() {
    url := "http://restapi3.apiary.io/notes"
    fmt.Println("URL:>", url)

    s := napping.Session{}
    h := &http.Header{}
    h.Set("X-Custom-Header", "myvalue")
    s.Header = h

    var jsonStr = []byte(`
{
    "title": "Buy cheese and bread for breakfast."
}`)

    var data map[string]json.RawMessage
    err := json.Unmarshal(jsonStr, &data)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err)
    }

    resp, err := s.Post(url, &data, nil, nil)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    fmt.Println("response Status:", resp.Status())
    fmt.Println("response Headers:", resp.HttpResponse().Header)
    fmt.Println("response Body:", resp.RawText())

}

This code doesn't send JSON properly, but I don't know why. The JSON string can be different in every call. I can't use Struct for this.

you can just use post to post your json.

values := map[string]string{"username": username, "password": password}

jsonValue, _ := json.Marshal(values)

resp, err := http.Post(authAuthenticatorUrl, "application/json", bytes.NewBuffer(jsonValue))

In addition to standard net/http package, you can consider using my GoRequest which wraps around net/http and make your life easier without thinking too much about json or struct. But you can also mix and match both of them in one request! (you can see more details about it in gorequest github page)

So, in the end your code will become like follow:

func main() {
    url := "http://restapi3.apiary.io/notes"
    fmt.Println("URL:>", url)
    request := gorequest.New()
    titleList := []string{"title1", "title2", "title3"}
    for _, title := range titleList {
        resp, body, errs := request.Post(url).
            Set("X-Custom-Header", "myvalue").
            Send(`{"title":"` + title + `"}`).
            End()
        if errs != nil {
            fmt.Println(errs)
            os.Exit(1)
        }
        fmt.Println("response Status:", resp.Status)
        fmt.Println("response Headers:", resp.Header)
        fmt.Println("response Body:", body)
    }
}

This depends on how you want to achieve. I made this library because I have the same problem with you and I want code that is shorter, easy to use with json, and more maintainable in my codebase and production system.

If you already have a struct.

import (
    "bytes"
    "encoding/json"
    "io"
    "net/http"
    "os"
)

// .....

type Student struct {
    Name    string `json:"name"`
    Address string `json:"address"`
}

// .....

body := &Student{
    Name:    "abc",
    Address: "xyz",
}

payloadBuf := new(bytes.Buffer)
json.NewEncoder(payloadBuf).Encode(body)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payloadBuf)

client := &http.Client{}
res, e := client.Do(req)
if e != nil {
    return e
}

defer res.Body.Close()

fmt.Println("response Status:", res.Status)
// Print the body to the stdout
io.Copy(os.Stdout, res.Body)

Full gist.