Add filter for remote request URL

[iandunn]

Currently, I can filter an HTTP request's parameters, but not its URL.

I've run into several situations where this would be useful over the years, and ​it seems like others have as well.

There are a few workarounds, but they're ​inconvenient and ​ugly. This should be simple, and it seems like something developers just assume already exists.

[dd32]

Personally I find it weird that we have the http_request_args filter, and don't really see adding a http_request_url filter in addition to it a good idea.

Filtering the URL requested is currently possible, but it's not as straightforward as some might expect - which is IMHO a good thing, as it also forces you to handle more of the actual request logic.

To filter the URL, you can hook into pre_http_request, match the URL, and then return the result of the request you'd like to make.

For example:

add_filter( 'pre_http_request', function( $preempt, $r, $url ) { 
  if ( 'example.com' == parse_url( $url, PHP_URL_HOST ) ) {
      // mangle $r here to add extra headers, etc.
      // override the current request with the new one:
      $preempt = wp_remote_request( 'http://example.NET/', $r );
  }

  return $preempt;
}, 10, 3 );

wp_remote_request( 'http://example.com/' ); // returns result from example.NET

Edit: I should note that this is more or less what's shown in one of your links; what the link doesn't show is how clean and straightforward the filter can be when used correctly.

[desrosj]

Marking this as a close candidate pending a second opinion. Unless you are ok with closing this as a wontfix, @iandunn.

[iandunn]

I personally still feel like a filter on the URL would be more straight-forward and consistent, but Dion is much more experienced in this area, so I'm happy to defer to his judgement.