HTTP Request

Nette encapsulates the HTTP request into objects with a clear API while providing a sanitization filter.

The HTTP request is represented by the Nette\Http\Request object. If you are working with Nette, this object is automatically created by the framework, and you can have it passed to you using dependency injection. In presenters, simply call the $this->getHttpRequest() method. If you are working outside the Nette Framework, you can create the object using RequestFactory.

A major advantage of Nette is that when creating the object, it automatically sanitizes all input parameters (GET, POST, COOKIE) as well as the URL, removing control characters and invalid UTF-8 sequences. You can then safely work with this data. The sanitized data is subsequently used in presenters and forms.

→ Installation and requirements

Nette\Http\Request

This object is immutable. It has no setters; it has only one so-called wither, withUrl(), which does not change the object but returns a new instance with the modified value.

withUrl (Nette\Http\UrlScript $url): Nette\Http\Request

Returns a clone with a different URL.

getUrl(): Nette\Http\UrlScript

Returns the URL of the request as a UrlScript object.

$url = $httpRequest->getUrl();
echo $url; // https://nette.org/en/documentation?action=edit
echo $url->getHost(); // nette.org

Warning: Browsers do not send the fragment to the server, so $url->getFragment() will return an empty string.

getQuery (?string $key=null): string|array|null

Returns GET request parameters.

$all = $httpRequest->getQuery();    // array of all URL parameters
$id = $httpRequest->getQuery('id'); // returns GET parameter 'id' (or null)

getPost (?string $key=null): string|array|null

Returns POST request parameters.

$all = $httpRequest->getPost();     // array of all POST parameters
$id = $httpRequest->getPost('id');  // returns POST parameter 'id' (or null)

getFile (string|string[] $key): Nette\Http\FileUpload|array|null

Returns an upload as a Nette\Http\FileUpload object:

$file = $httpRequest->getFile('avatar');
if ($file?->hasFile()) { // was any file uploaded?
	$file->getUntrustedName(); // filename sent by the user
	$file->getSanitizedName(); // name without dangerous characters
}

To access a nested structure, provide an array of keys.

//<input type="file" name="my-form[details][avatar]" multiple>
$file = $request->getFile(['my-form', 'details', 'avatar']);

Since you cannot trust external data and therefore rely on the structure of the files, this approach is safer than, for example, $request->getFiles()['my-form']['details']['avatar'], which might fail.

getFiles(): array

Returns a tree of all uploads in a normalized structure, where the leaves are Nette\Http\FileUpload objects:

$files = $httpRequest->getFiles();

getCookie (string $key): string|array|null

Returns a cookie or null if it doesn't exist.

$sessId = $httpRequest->getCookie('sess_id');

getCookies(): array

Returns all cookies.

$cookies = $httpRequest->getCookies();

getMethod(): string

Returns the HTTP method used for the request.

$httpRequest->getMethod(); // GET, POST, HEAD, PUT

isMethod (string $method): bool

Tests the HTTP method used for the request. The parameter is case-insensitive.

if ($httpRequest->isMethod('GET')) // ...

getHeader (string $header): ?string

Returns an HTTP header or null if it doesn't exist. The parameter is case-insensitive.

$userAgent = $httpRequest->getHeader('User-Agent');

getHeaders(): array

Returns all HTTP headers as an associative array.

$headers = $httpRequest->getHeaders();
echo $headers['Content-Type'];

isSecured(): bool

Is the connection encrypted (HTTPS)? Proper functionality might require setting up a proxy.

isSameSite(): bool

Is the request coming from the same (sub)domain and initiated by clicking a link? Nette uses the _nss cookie (formerly nette-samesite) for detection.

isAjax(): bool

Is it an AJAX request?

getRemoteAddress(): ?string

Returns the user's IP address. Proper functionality might require setting up a proxy.

getRemoteHost(): ?string

Returns the DNS translation of the user's IP address. Proper functionality might require setting up a proxy.

getBasicCredentials(): ?array

Returns authentication credentials for Basic HTTP authentication.

[$user, $password] = $httpRequest->getBasicCredentials();

getRawBody(): ?string

Returns the body of the HTTP request.

$body = $httpRequest->getRawBody();

detectLanguage (array $langs): ?string

Detects the language. Pass an array of languages supported by the application as the $langs parameter, and it will return the one preferred by the visitor's browser. It's not magic; it just uses the Accept-Language header. If no match is found, it returns null.

// Browser sends e.g., Accept-Language: cs,en-us;q=0.8,en;q=0.5,sl;q=0.3

$langs = ['hu', 'pl', 'en']; // languages supported by the application
echo $httpRequest->detectLanguage($langs); // en

RequestFactory

The Nette\Http\RequestFactory class is used to create an instance of Nette\Http\Request, which represents the current HTTP request. (If you are working with Nette, the HTTP request object is automatically created by the framework.)

$factory = new Nette\Http\RequestFactory;
$httpRequest = $factory->fromGlobals();

The fromGlobals() method creates the request object based on the current PHP global variables ($_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE, $_FILES, and $_SERVER). When creating the object, it automatically cleanses all input parameters (GET, POST, COOKIE) as well as the URL from control characters and invalid UTF-8 sequences, ensuring security when working with this data later.

RequestFactory can be configured before calling fromGlobals():

using the $factory->setBinary() method disables automatic cleansing of input parameters from control characters and invalid UTF-8 sequences.
using the $factory->setProxy(...) method specifies the IP address of the proxy server, which is necessary for correct detection of the user's IP address.

RequestFactory allows defining filters that automatically transform parts of the URL request. These filters remove unwanted characters from URLs that might have been inserted, for example, by incorrect implementations of comment systems on various websites:

// remove spaces from the path
$requestFactory->urlFilters['path']['%20'] = '';

// remove dot, comma, or right parenthesis from the end of the URI
$requestFactory->urlFilters['url']['[.,)]$'] = '';

// clean the path from double slashes (default filter)
$requestFactory->urlFilters['path']['/{2,}'] = '/';

The first key, 'path' or 'url', determines which part of the URL the filter will be applied to. The second key is the regular expression to search for, and the value is the replacement to be used instead of the found text.

Uploaded Files

The Nette\Http\Request::getFiles() method returns an array of all uploads in a normalized structure, where the leaves are Nette\Http\FileUpload objects. These encapsulate the data submitted by the <input type=file> form element.

The structure reflects the naming of elements in HTML. In the simplest case, it might be a single named form element submitted as:

<input type="file" name="avatar">

In this case, $request->getFiles() returns an array:

[
	'avatar' => /* FileUpload instance */
]

The FileUpload object is created even if the user did not upload any file or the upload failed. The hasFile() method returns true if a file was sent:

$request->getFile('avatar')?->hasFile();

In the case of an element name using array notation:

<input type="file" name="my-form[details][avatar]">

the returned tree looks like this:

[
	'my-form' => [
		'details' => [
			'avatar' => /* FileUpload instance */
		],
	],
]

You can also create arrays of files:

<input type="file" name="my-form[details][avatars][]" multiple>

In such a case, the structure looks like this:

[
	'my-form' => [
		'details' => [
			'avatars' => [
				0 => /* FileUpload instance */,
				1 => /* FileUpload instance */,
				2 => /* FileUpload instance */,
			],
		],
	],
]

The best way to access index 1 of the nested array is as follows:

$file = $request->getFile(['my-form', 'details', 'avatars', 1]);
if ($file instanceof Nette\Http\FileUpload) {
	// ...
}

Overview of `FileUpload` Methods

hasFile(): bool

Returns true if the user uploaded a file.

isOk(): bool

Returns true if the file was uploaded successfully.

getError(): int

Returns the error code associated with the uploaded file. It is one of the UPLOAD_ERR_XXX constants. If the file was uploaded successfully, it returns UPLOAD_ERR_OK.

move (string $dest)

Moves an uploaded file to a new location. If the destination file already exists, it will be overwritten.

$file->move('/path/to/files/name.ext');

getContents(): ?string

Returns the contents of the uploaded file. If the upload was not successful, it returns null.

getContentType(): ?string

Detects the MIME content type of the uploaded file based on its signature. If the upload was not successful or the detection failed, it returns null.

Requires the PHP extension fileinfo.

getUntrustedName(): string

Returns the original file name as submitted by the browser.

Do not trust the value returned by this method. A client could send a malicious filename with the intention to corrupt or hack your application.

getSanitizedName(): string

Returns the sanitized file name. It contains only ASCII characters [a-zA-Z0-9.-]. If the name does not contain such characters, it returns 'unknown'. If the file is a JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, or AVIF image, it also returns the correct file extension.

Requires the PHP extension fileinfo.

getSuggestedExtension(): ?string

Returns the appropriate file extension (without the dot) corresponding to the detected MIME type.

Requires the PHP extension fileinfo.

getUntrustedFullPath(): string

Returns the original file path as submitted by the browser during directory upload. The full path is only available in PHP 8.1 and later. In previous versions, this method returns the original file name.

Do not trust the value returned by this method. A client could send a malicious filename with the intention to corrupt or hack your application.

getSize(): int

Returns the size of the uploaded file. If the upload was not successful, it returns 0.

getTemporaryFile(): string

Returns the path to the temporary location of the uploaded file. If the upload was not successful, it returns ''.

isImage(): bool

Returns true if the uploaded file is a JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, or AVIF image. Detection is based on its signature and does not verify the integrity of the entire file. Whether an image is corrupted can be determined, for example, by trying to load it.

Requires the PHP extension fileinfo.

getImageSize(): ?array

Returns a pair [width, height] with the dimensions of the uploaded image. If the upload was not successful or it is not a valid image, it returns null.

toImage(): Nette\Utils\Image

Loads the image as an Image object. If the upload was not successful or it is not a valid image, it throws an Nette\Utils\ImageException.

HTTP Request

Nette\Http\Request

withUrl (Nette\Http\UrlScript $url): Nette\Http\Request

getUrl(): Nette\Http\UrlScript

getQuery (?string $key=null): string|array|null

getPost (?string $key=null): string|array|null

getFile (string|string[] $key): Nette\Http\FileUpload|array|null

getFiles(): array

getCookie (string $key): string|array|null

getCookies(): array

getMethod(): string

isMethod (string $method): bool

getHeader (string $header): ?string

getHeaders(): array

isSecured(): bool

isSameSite(): bool

isAjax(): bool

getRemoteAddress(): ?string

getRemoteHost(): ?string

getBasicCredentials(): ?array

getRawBody(): ?string

detectLanguage (array $langs): ?string

RequestFactory

Uploaded Files

Overview of FileUpload Methods

hasFile(): bool

isOk(): bool

getError(): int

move (string $dest)

getContents(): ?string

getContentType(): ?string

getUntrustedName(): string

getSanitizedName(): string

getSuggestedExtension(): ?string

getUntrustedFullPath(): string

getSize(): int

getTemporaryFile(): string

isImage(): bool

getImageSize(): ?array

toImage(): Nette\Utils\Image

Overview of `FileUpload` Methods