Make a URL-encoded POST request using `http.NewRequest(...)`

Question

I want to make a POST request to an API sending my data as a application/x-www-form-urlencoded content type. Due to the fact that I need to manage the request headers, I'm using the http.NewRequest(method, urlStr string, body io.Reader) method to create a request. For this POST request I append my data query to the URL and leave the body empty, something like this:

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "strconv"
)

func main() {
    apiUrl := "https://api.com"
    resource := "/user/"
    data := url.Values{}
    data.Set("name", "foo")
    data.Add("surname", "bar")

    u, _ := url.ParseRequestURI(apiUrl)
    u.Path = resource
    u.RawQuery = data.Encode()
    urlStr := fmt.Sprintf("%v", u) // "https://api.com/user/?name=foo&surname=bar"

    client := &http.Client{}
    r, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", urlStr, nil)
    r.Header.Add("Authorization", "auth_token=\"XXXXXXX\"")
    r.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
    r.Header.Add("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(data.Encode())))

    resp, _ := client.Do(r)
    fmt.Println(resp.Status)
}

As I response, I get always a 400 BAD REQUEST. I believe the problem relies on my request and the API does not understand which payload I am posting. I'm aware of methods like Request.ParseForm, not really sure how to use it in this context though. Maybe am I missing some further Header, maybe is there a better way to send payload as a application/json type using the body parameter?

Answer 1

URL-encoded payload must be provided on the body parameter of the http.NewRequest(method, urlStr string, body io.Reader) method, as a type that implements io.Reader interface.

Based on the sample code:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "strconv"
    "strings"
)

func main() {
    apiUrl := "https://api.com"
    resource := "/user/"
    data := url.Values{}
    data.Set("name", "foo")
    data.Set("surname", "bar")

    u, _ := url.ParseRequestURI(apiUrl)
    u.Path = resource
    urlStr := u.String() // "https://api.com/user/"

    client := &http.Client{}
    r, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, urlStr, strings.NewReader(data.Encode())) // URL-encoded payload
    r.Header.Add("Authorization", "auth_token=\"XXXXXXX\"")
    r.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
    r.Header.Add("Content-Length", strconv.Itoa(len(data.Encode())))

    resp, _ := client.Do(r)
    fmt.Println(resp.Status)
}

resp.Status is 200 OK this way.