feat(net): vim.net.request(), :edit [url] #34140

Problem:
Nvim depends on netrw to download/request URL contents.

Solution:
- Add `vim.net.request()` as a thin curl wrapper:
  - Basic GET with --silent, --show-error, --fail, --location, --retry
  - Optional `opts.outpath` to save to a file
  - Operates asynchronously. Pass an `on_response` handler to get the result.
- Add integ tests (requires NVIM_TEST_INTEG to be set) to test success
  and 404 failure.
- Health check for missing `curl`.
- Handle `:edit https://…` using `vim.net.request()`.

API Usage:
1. Asynchronous request:

    vim.net.request('https://httpbingo.org/get', { retry = 2 }, function(err, response)
      if err then
        print('Fetch failed:', err)
      else
        print('Got body of length:', #response.body)
      end
    end)

2. Download to file:

    vim.net.request('https://httpbingo.org/get', { outpath = 'out_async.txt' }, function(err)
      if err then print('Error:', err) end
    end)

3. Remote :edit integration (in runtime/plugin/net.lua) fetches into buffer:

    :edit https://httpbingo.org/get

runtime/doc/lua.txt

@@ -5043,4 +5043,32 @@ tohtml.tohtml({winid}, {opt})                         *tohtml.tohtml.tohtml()*
         (`string[]`)
 
 
+==============================================================================
+Lua module: vim.net                                                  *vim.net*
+
+vim.net.request({url}, {opts}, {on_response})              *vim.net.request()*
+    Makes an HTTP GET request to the given URL (asynchronous).
+
+    This function operates in one mode:
+    • Asynchronous (non-blocking): Returns immediately and passes the response
+      object to the provided `on_response` handler on completetion.
+
+    Parameters: ~
+      • {url}          (`string`) The URL for the request.
+      • {opts}         (`table?`) Optional parameters:
+                       • `verbose` (boolean|nil): Enables verbose output.
+                       • `retry` (integer|nil): Number of retries on transient
+                         failures (default: 3).
+                       • `outpath` (string|nil): File path to save the
+                         response body to. If set, the `body` value in the
+                         Response Object will be `true` instead of the
+                         response body.
+      • {on_response}  (`fun(err?: string, response?: { body: string|boolean })`)
+                       Callback invoked on request completetion. The `body`
+                       field in the response object contains the raw response
+                       data (text or binary). Called with (err, nil) on
+                       failure, or (nil, { body = string|boolean }) on
+                       success.
+
+
  vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=4:sts=4:et:ft=help:norl:

runtime/doc/news.txt

@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ LSP
 LUA
 
 • Renamed `vim.diff` to `vim.text.diff`.
+• |vim.net.request()| adds a minimal HTTP GET API using curl.
 
 OPTIONS
 

runtime/lua/vim/_editor.lua

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ for k, v in pairs({
   snippet = true,
   pack = true,
   _watch = true,
+  net = true,
 }) do
   vim._submodules[k] = v
 end

runtime/lua/vim/health/health.lua

@@ -428,6 +428,72 @@ local function check_external_tools()
   else
     health.warn('git not available (required by `vim.pack`)')
   end
+
+  if vim.fn.executable('curl') == 1 then
+    local curl_path = vim.fn.exepath('curl')
+    local curl_job = vim.system({ curl_path, '--version' }):wait()
+
+    if curl_job.code == 0 then
+      local curl_out = curl_job.stdout
+      if not curl_out or curl_out == '' then
+        health.warn(
+          string.format('`%s --version` produced no output', curl_path),
+          { curl_job.stderr }
+        )
+        return
+      end
+      local curl_version = vim.version.parse(curl_out)
+      if not curl_version then
+        health.warn('Unable to parse curl version from `curl --version`')
+        return
+      end
+      if vim.version.le(curl_version, { 7, 12, 3 }) then
+        health.warn('curl version %s not compatible', curl_version)
+        return
+      end
+      local lines = { string.format('curl %s (%s)', curl_version, curl_path) }
+
+      for line in vim.gsplit(curl_out, '\n', { plain = true }) do
+        if line ~= '' and not line:match('^curl') then
+          table.insert(lines, line)
+        end
+      end
+
+      -- Add subtitle only if any env var is present
+      local added_env_header = false
+      for _, var in ipairs({
+        'curl_ca_bundle',
+        'curl_home',
+        'curl_ssl_backend',
+        'ssl_cert_dir',
+        'ssl_cert_file',
+        'https_proxy',
+        'http_proxy',
+        'all_proxy',
+        'no_proxy',
+      }) do
+        ---@type string?
+        local val = vim.env[var] or vim.env[var:upper()]
+        if val then
+          if not added_env_header then
+            table.insert(lines, 'curl-related environment variables:')
+            added_env_header = true
+          end
+          local shown_var = vim.env[var] and var or var:upper()
+          table.insert(lines, string.format('  %s=%s', shown_var, val))
+        end
+      end
+
+      health.ok(table.concat(lines, '\n'))
+    else
+      health.warn('curl is installed but failed to run `curl --version`', { curl_job.stderr })
+    end
+  else
+    health.error('curl not found', {
+      'Required for vim.net.request() to function.',
+      'Install curl using your package manager.',
+    })
+  end
 end
 
 function M.check()

runtime/lua/vim/net.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+local M = {}
+
+--- Makes an HTTP GET request to the given URL (asynchronous).
+---
+--- This function operates in one mode:
+---   - Asynchronous (non-blocking): Returns immediately and passes the response object to the
+---   provided `on_response` handler on completetion.
+---
+--- @param url string The URL for the request.
+--- @param opts? table Optional parameters:
+---   - `verbose` (boolean|nil): Enables verbose output.
+---   - `retry`   (integer|nil): Number of retries on transient failures (default: 3).
+---   - `outpath`  (string|nil): File path to save the response body to. If set, the `body` value in the Response Object will be `true` instead of the response body.
+--- @param on_response fun(err?: string, response?: { body: string|boolean }) Callback invoked on request
+--- completetion. The `body` field in the response object contains the raw response data (text or binary).
+--- Called with (err, nil) on failure, or (nil, { body = string|boolean }) on success.
+function M.request(url, opts, on_response)
+  vim.validate({
+    url = { url, 'string' },
+    opts = { opts, 'table', true },
+    on_response = { on_response, 'function' },
+  })
+
+  opts = opts or {}
+  local retry = opts.retry or 3
+
+  -- Build curl command
+  local args = { 'curl' }
+  if opts.verbose then
+    table.insert(args, '--verbose')
+  else
+    vim.list_extend(args, { '--silent', '--show-error', '--fail' })
+  end
+  vim.list_extend(args, { '--location', '--retry', tostring(retry) })
+
+  if opts.outpath then
+    vim.list_extend(args, { '--output', opts.outpath })
+  end
+
+  table.insert(args, url)
+
+  local function on_exit(res)
+    local err_msg = nil
+    local response = nil
+
+    if res.code ~= 0 then
+      err_msg = (res.stderr ~= '' and res.stderr)
+        or string.format('Request failed with exit code %d', res.code)
+    else
+      response = {
+        body = opts.outpath and true or res.stdout,
+      }
+    end
+
+    if on_response then
+      on_response(err_msg, response)
+    end
+  end
+
+  vim.system(args, {}, on_exit)
+end
+
+return M

runtime/pack/dist/opt/netrw/plugin/netrwPlugin.vim

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ augroup END
 augroup Network
     au!
     au BufReadCmd file://* call netrw#FileUrlEdit(expand("<amatch>"))
-    au BufReadCmd ftp://*,rcp://*,scp://*,http://*,https://*,dav://*,davs://*,rsync://*,sftp://* exe "sil doau BufReadPre ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|call netrw#Nread(2,expand("<amatch>"))|exe "sil doau BufReadPost ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))
+    au BufReadCmd ftp://*,rcp://*,scp://*,dav://*,davs://*,rsync://*,sftp://* exe "sil doau BufReadPre ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|call netrw#Nread(2,expand("<amatch>"))|exe "sil doau BufReadPost ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))
     au FileReadCmd ftp://*,rcp://*,scp://*,http://*,file://*,https://*,dav://*,davs://*,rsync://*,sftp://* exe "sil doau FileReadPre ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|call netrw#Nread(1,expand("<amatch>"))|exe "sil doau FileReadPost ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))
     au BufWriteCmd ftp://*,rcp://*,scp://*,http://*,file://*,dav://*,davs://*,rsync://*,sftp://* exe "sil doau BufWritePre ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|exe 'Nwrite '.fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|exe "sil doau BufWritePost ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))
     au FileWriteCmd ftp://*,rcp://*,scp://*,http://*,file://*,dav://*,davs://*,rsync://*,sftp://* exe "sil doau FileWritePre ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|exe "'[,']".'Nwrite '.fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))|exe "sil doau FileWritePost ".fnameescape(expand("<amatch>"))

runtime/plugin/nvim/net.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+vim.g.loaded_remote_file_loader = true
+
+--- Callback for BufReadCmd on remote URLs.
+--- @param args { buf: integer }
+local function on_remote_read(args)
+  if vim.fn.executable('curl') ~= 1 then
+    vim.api.nvim_echo({
+      { 'Warning: `curl` not found; remote URL loading disabled.', 'WarningMsg' },
+    }, true, {})
+    return true
+  end
+
+  local bufnr = args.buf
+  local url = vim.api.nvim_buf_get_name(bufnr)
+  local view = vim.fn.winsaveview()
+
+  vim.api.nvim_echo({ { 'Fetching ' .. url .. ' …', 'MoreMsg' } }, true, {})
+
+  vim.net.request(
+    url,
+    { retry = 3 },
+    vim.schedule_wrap(function(err, content)
+      if err then
+        vim.notify('Failed to fetch ' .. url .. ': ' .. tostring(err), vim.log.levels.ERROR)
+        vim.fn.winrestview(view)
+        return
+      end
+
+      local lines = vim.split(content.body, '\n', { plain = true })
+      vim.api.nvim_buf_set_lines(bufnr, 0, -1, true, lines)
+
+      vim.fn.winrestview(view)
+      vim.api.nvim_echo({ { 'Loaded ' .. url, 'Normal' } }, true, {})
+    end)
+  )
+end
+
+vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('BufReadCmd', {
+  group = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup('nvim.net.remotefile', {}),
+  pattern = { 'http://*', 'https://*' },
+  desc = 'Edit remote files (:edit https://example.com)',
+  callback = on_remote_read,
+})

src/gen/gen_vimdoc.lua

@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ local config = {
       'snippet.lua',
       'text.lua',
       'tohtml.lua',
+      'net.lua',
     },
     files = {
       'runtime/lua/vim/iter.lua',
@@ -192,6 +193,7 @@ local config = {
       'runtime/lua/vim/_meta/re.lua',
       'runtime/lua/vim/_meta/spell.lua',
       'runtime/lua/tohtml.lua',
+      'runtime/lua/vim/net.lua',
     },
     fn_xform = function(fun)
       if contains(fun.module, { 'vim.uri', 'vim.shared', 'vim._editor' }) then

test/README.md

@@ -521,6 +521,10 @@ Number; !must be defined to function properly):
   `NVIM_TEST_CORE_GLOB_DIRECTORY` is defined and this variable is not) cores
   are checked for after each test.
 
+- `NVIM_TEST_INTEG` (F) (D): enables integration tests that makes real network
+  calls. By default these tests are skipped. When set to `1`, tests requiring external
+  HTTP requests (e.g `vim.net.request()`) will be run.
+
 - `NVIM_TEST_RUN_TESTTEST` (U) (1): allows running
   `test/unit/testtest_spec.lua` used to check how testing infrastructure works.
 

test/functional/lua/net_spec.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+local n = require('test.functional.testnvim')()
+local t = require('test.testutil')
+local skip_integ = os.getenv('NVIM_TEST_INTEG') ~= '1'
+
+local exec_lua = n.exec_lua
+
+local function assert_404_error(err)
+  assert(
+    err:lower():find('404') or err:find('22'),
+    'Expected HTTP 404 or exit code 22, got: ' .. tostring(err)
+  )
+end
+
+describe('vim.net.request', function()
+  before_each(function()
+    n:clear()
+  end)
+
+  it('fetches a URL into memory (async success)', function()
+    t.skip(skip_integ, 'NVIM_TEST_INTEG not set: skipping network integration test')
+    local content = exec_lua([[
+      local done = false
+      local result
+      local M = require('vim.net')
+
+      M.request("https://httpbingo.org/anything", { retry = 3 }, function(err, body)
+        assert(not err, err)
+        result = body.body
+        done = true
+      end)
+
+      vim.wait(2000, function() return done end)
+      return result
+    ]])
+
+    assert(
+      content and content:find('"url"%s*:%s*"https://httpbingo.org/anything"'),
+      'Expected response body to contain the correct URL'
+    )
+  end)
+
+  it('calls on_response with error on 404 (async failure)', function()
+    t.skip(skip_integ, 'NVIM_TEST_INTEG not set: skipping network integration test')
+    local err = exec_lua([[
+      local done = false
+      local result
+      local M = require('vim.net')
+
+      M.request("https://httpbingo.org/status/404", {}, function(e, _)
+        result = e
+        done = true
+      end)
+
+      vim.wait(2000, function() return done end)
+      return result
+    ]])
+
+    assert_404_error(err)
+  end)
+end)