Fix HTTP Client Misuse

Overview

This skill helps diagnose and fix issues caused by using axios, fetch, or other HTTP clients directly instead of Output SDK's httpClient from @output.ai/http. The Output SDK client provides tracing, automatic retries, and better error handling.

When to Use This Skill

You're seeing:

• Untraced HTTP requests (not appearing in workflow traces)
• Missing error details for failed requests
• axios-related errors or import issues
• Retries not working for HTTP failures
• Inconsistent timeout behavior

Root Cause

Using axios, fetch, or other HTTP clients directly bypasses Output SDK's:

• Request/response tracing: Calls aren't logged in workflow traces
• Automatic retries: Failed requests aren't retried
• Error standardization: Error formats may be inconsistent
• Timeout handling: Timeouts may not integrate with step timeouts

Symptoms

Using axios Directly

// WRONG: Using axios
import axios from 'axios';

export const fetchData = step({
  name: 'fetchData',
  fn: async (input) => {
    const response = await axios.get('https://api.example.com/data');
    return response.data;
  },
});

Using fetch Directly

// WRONG: Using fetch
export const fetchData = step({
  name: 'fetchData',
  fn: async (input) => {
    const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
    return response.json();
  },
});

Solution

Use httpClient from @output.ai/http:

Basic Usage

import { z, step } from '@output.ai/core';
import { httpClient } from '@output.ai/http';

export const fetchData = step({
  name: 'fetchData',
  inputSchema: z.object({
    endpoint: z.string(),
  }),
  outputSchema: z.object({
    data: z.unknown(),
  }),
  fn: async (input) => {
    const client = httpClient({
      prefixUrl: 'https://api.example.com',
    });

    const data = await client.get(input.endpoint).json();
    return { data };
  },
});

With Full Configuration

import { httpClient } from '@output.ai/http';

const client = httpClient({
  prefixUrl: 'https://api.example.com',
  timeout: 30000,  // 30 second timeout
  retry: {
    limit: 3,      // Retry up to 3 times
    methods: ['GET', 'POST'],  // Which methods to retry
    statusCodes: [408, 500, 502, 503, 504],  // Which status codes trigger retry
  },
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
});

HTTP Methods

GET Request

const data = await client.get('users/123').json();

POST Request

const result = await client.post('users', {
  json: {
    name: 'John',
    email: 'john@example.com',
  },
}).json();

PUT Request

const updated = await client.put('users/123', {
  json: {
    name: 'John Updated',
  },
}).json();

DELETE Request

await client.delete('users/123');

With Query Parameters

const data = await client.get('search', {
  searchParams: {
    q: 'query',
    limit: 10,
  },
}).json();

Complete Migration Example

Before (Wrong - using axios)

import axios from 'axios';
import { step } from '@output.ai/core';

export const createUser = step({
  name: 'createUser',
  fn: async (input) => {
    try {
      const response = await axios.post(
        'https://api.example.com/users',
        { name: input.name, email: input.email },
        {
          headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.API_KEY}` },
          timeout: 30000,
        }
      );
      return response.data;
    } catch (error) {
      if (axios.isAxiosError(error)) {
        throw new Error(`API Error: ${error.response?.data?.message}`);
      }
      throw error;
    }
  },
});

After (Correct - using httpClient)

import { z, step } from '@output.ai/core';
import { httpClient } from '@output.ai/http';

export const createUser = step({
  name: 'createUser',
  inputSchema: z.object({
    name: z.string(),
    email: z.string().email(),
  }),
  outputSchema: z.object({
    id: z.string(),
    name: z.string(),
    email: z.string(),
  }),
  fn: async (input) => {
    const client = httpClient({
      prefixUrl: 'https://api.example.com',
      timeout: 30000,
      retry: { limit: 3 },
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.API_KEY}`,
      },
    });

    const user = await client.post('users', {
      json: {
        name: input.name,
        email: input.email,
      },
    }).json();

    return user;
  },
});

Error Handling

The httpClient provides structured error handling:

import { httpClient, HTTPError } from '@output.ai/http';

export const fetchData = step({
  name: 'fetchData',
  fn: async (input) => {
    const client = httpClient({ prefixUrl: 'https://api.example.com' });

    try {
      return await client.get('data').json();
    } catch (error) {
      if (error instanceof HTTPError) {
        // Access response details
        const status = error.response.status;
        const body = await error.response.json();
        throw new Error(`API returned ${status}: ${body.message}`);
      }
      throw error;
    }
  },
});

Finding axios/fetch Usage

Search your codebase:

# Find axios imports
grep -rn "from 'axios'\|from \"axios\"" src/

# Find fetch calls
grep -rn "await fetch(" src/

# Find other HTTP libraries
grep -rn "got\|node-fetch\|request\|superagent" src/

Benefits of httpClient

1. Tracing: Requests appear in workflow traces with timing
2. Automatic Retries: Configurable retry logic for transient failures
3. Consistent Errors: Standardized error format across all requests
4. Timeout Integration: Works with step and workflow timeouts
5. Type Safety: Full TypeScript support

Configuration Options

Verification

After migrating to httpClient:

1. Run the workflow: npx output workflow run <name> '<input>'
2. Check the trace: npx output workflow debug <id> --format json
3. Verify tracing: HTTP requests should appear in the step trace
4. Test retries: Simulate failures to verify retry behavior

Related Issues

• For I/O in workflow functions, see output-error-direct-io
• For connection issues, see output-services-check