How do I send custom request methods using the Requests library?

Python's requests library provides built-in methods for common HTTP operations like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. However, you can also send custom or non-standard HTTP methods using the requests.request() function.

Basic Syntax

Use requests.request() to send any custom HTTP method:

import requests

response = requests.request(
    method='CUSTOM_METHOD',
    url='https://api.example.com/resource',
    headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
    data=json_data  # Optional
)

Common Custom Methods

WebDAV Methods

WebDAV extends HTTP with additional methods for file management:

import requests

# PROPFIND - List directory contents
response = requests.request(
    method='PROPFIND',
    url='https://webdav.example.com/files/',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'text/xml',
        'Depth': '1'  # 0=current resource, 1=immediate children
    }
)

# MKCOL - Create directory
response = requests.request(
    method='MKCOL',
    url='https://webdav.example.com/files/new-folder/',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer your-token'}
)

# LOCK - Lock a resource
lock_xml = '''<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<lockinfo xmlns="DAV:">
    <lockscope><exclusive/></lockscope>
    <locktype><write/></locktype>
</lockinfo>'''

response = requests.request(
    method='LOCK',
    url='https://webdav.example.com/files/document.txt',
    headers={'Content-Type': 'text/xml'},
    data=lock_xml
)

API-Specific Methods

Some APIs define custom methods:

# SEARCH method (used by some APIs)
response = requests.request(
    method='SEARCH',
    url='https://api.example.com/search',
    headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
    json={'query': 'search terms', 'filters': {}}
)

# COPY method (WebDAV)
response = requests.request(
    method='COPY',
    url='https://webdav.example.com/source-file.txt',
    headers={
        'Destination': 'https://webdav.example.com/destination-file.txt',
        'Overwrite': 'T'
    }
)

Complete Example with Error Handling

import requests
from requests.exceptions import RequestException

def send_custom_request(method, url, **kwargs):
    """Send a custom HTTP request with proper error handling."""
    try:
        response = requests.request(method=method, url=url, **kwargs)

        # Check if request was successful
        response.raise_for_status()

        return response

    except RequestException as e:
        print(f"Request failed: {e}")
        return None

# Usage example
headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer your-api-token',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = send_custom_request(
    method='PROPFIND',
    url='https://webdav.example.com/files/',
    headers=headers,
    timeout=30
)

if response:
    print(f"Status: {response.status_code}")
    print(f"Response: {response.text}")
else:
    print("Request failed")

Method Support and Limitations

Server Support

• Not all servers support custom methods
• Check API documentation for supported methods
• HTTP 405 (Method Not Allowed) indicates unsupported method

Testing Method Support

def test_method_support(url, method):
    """Test if a server supports a specific HTTP method."""
    try:
        response = requests.request(method=method, url=url, timeout=10)
        if response.status_code == 405:
            print(f"Method {method} not supported")
            # Check Allow header for supported methods
            allowed = response.headers.get('Allow', 'Not specified')
            print(f"Supported methods: {allowed}")
        else:
            print(f"Method {method} is supported (Status: {response.status_code})")
    except requests.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error testing method: {e}")

# Test PROPFIND support
test_method_support('https://webdav.example.com/', 'PROPFIND')

Best Practices

1. Always handle exceptions when using custom methods
2. Check server documentation for supported methods
3. Include proper headers required by the custom method
4. Set appropriate timeouts to avoid hanging requests
5. Validate responses before processing data

Custom HTTP methods extend the capabilities of your web scraping and API interactions beyond standard operations, particularly useful for WebDAV file operations and specialized API endpoints.