Request

# Request Let us take a deep dive into the [request] method. Using this method, you can send HTTP requests to a web server open to internet. It is a simple but powerful way to add all kinds of external functionality to SWML scripts. :::tip Reference available This is a guide for the [request] method. The reference for this method can be found in [here][request]. ::: We will start by pulling a random dad joke from the internet and reading it out loud to the user. yaml andJson version: 1.0.0 sections: main: - answer: {} - play: url: say:Hello! I can tell you a random dad joke. Please wait a moment. - request: url: https://icanhazdadjoke.com/ method: GET headers: Accept: application/json save_variables: true - play: url: say:%{request_response.joke} - hangup: {} The following points should be noted: 1. After [answer]ing the phone call and [play]ing a short welcome message, we request a joke from the website [icanhazdadjoke.com](https://icanhazdadjoke.com/). 2. We specifically state that we want the response to be in JSON format using the [Accept] header. 3. We have set the save_variables option to be true. SWML can parse the JSON response for you and save all the response objects into a variable named request_response. 4. The server gives back a JSON object in the form: json { joke: Why dont eggs tell jokes? Theyd crack each other up, status: 200 } We read aloud the joke property of the response JSON using the [play] method. ## Sending POST request Let us send some information to the server using a POST request. yaml andJson version: 1.0.0 sections: main: - answer: {} - prompt: play: say: Enter PIN max_digits: 4 terminators: # - request: url: https://reqres.in/api/users method: POST save_variables: true body: pin: %{prompt_value} - play: url: say:Pin set to: %{request_response.pin} - hangup: {} ## Using your own server So far, we have used publicly available test REST API. You can also write your own web server, and interact with that using the [request] method. An example server in Flask (Python) and Express (Node.js) is presented below: python from flask import Flask, request from waitress import serve app = Flask(__name__) @app.route(/, methods=[POST]) def swml(): body = request.get_json(silent=True) print(body) # TODO: process body result = body return result if __name__ == __main__: serve(app, host=0.0.0.0, port=6000) javascript const express = require(express); const app = express(); app.use(express.json()); // note the POST method app.post(/, (req, res) => { const body = req.body; console.log(body); // TODO: process body const result = body; res.json(result); }); const port = 6000; app.listen(port); :::tip If you need help opening up this web server from your localhost to the wider internet where SWML execution system can find it, please follow this [ngrok guide]. ::: Once this web server is up, you can write SWML to access this service. yaml andJson version: 1.0.0 sections: main: - answer: {} - prompt: play: say: Enter PIN max_digits: 4 terminators: # - request: url: https://.ngrok-free.dev method: POST save_variables: true body: pin: %{prompt_value} - play: url: say:Pin set to: %{request_response.pin} - hangup: {} [request]: ../../../methods/request.mdx [answer]: ../../../methods/answer.mdx [play]: ../../../methods/play.mdx [accept]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Accept [ngrok guide]: /guides/how-to-test-webhooks-with-ngrok