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* Add Server::CustomRoute() for HTTP methods outside the built-in set parse_request_line validates the request method against a fixed whitelist and rejects anything else with 400 before routing runs. That blocks WebDAV, where PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, MKCOL, COPY, MOVE, LOCK and UNLOCK are ordinary methods defined by RFC 4918, and it blocks extension methods such as UPnP's SUBSCRIBE. The need has been open since #847. Registering a handler is now what makes the server accept a method: svr.CustomRoute("PROPFIND", "/dav/:id", handler); Because custom methods go through the normal dispatch path, patterns work the way they do for Get() and friends, and the request body is available in req.body. Serving these methods through set_pre_routing_handler was never enough: the body has not been read at that point, so PROPPATCH and LOCK, which require one, could not be implemented at all. A HandlerWithContentReader overload is available too. The content reader gate in routing() also fires when a custom method carries no body, matching what expect_content() does unconditionally for POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE, so a body-less PROPFIND (RFC 4918 treats one as allprop) reaches its handler instead of falling through to 404. Method names are validated as RFC 9110 tokens, and the ten built-in methods are refused. Seven of them are dispatched by the if/else chain in routing() before the custom tables are consulted, so a route registered for one could never fire; CONNECT, TRACE and PRI carry protocol-level meaning this library does not route. A refused registration makes is_valid() return false, so listen() fails rather than starting a server holding a handler that would never run. This is also why SSLServer::is_valid() now chains to Server::is_valid() instead of only checking ctx_. Servers that never call CustomRoute() keep the previous per-request cost: the built-in method set is checked first and short-circuits, and the custom lookup returns early on an empty map. * Add cookbook recipe for custom HTTP methods The CustomRoute() docs were a section inside S01, which pushed that page to 90 lines, the longest in the cookbook, and mixed a separate feature into a page about registering GET/POST/PUT/DELETE handlers. Move the section into its own recipe and give it room for the part that was missing: the OPTIONS handler returning DAV: and Allow, which WebDAV clients probe for before anything else. S01 goes back to 68 lines and keeps a pointer to the new page. The recipe is titled after the API rather than after WebDAV, and says outright that generating the 207 Multi-Status XML, interpreting Depth and managing locks are the reader's job. Routing the method is all the library does. S23 takes order 42, so the TLS, SSE and WebSocket recipes shift to 43-57. That only moves the sort key. Filenames, the T01/E01/W01 labels, the published URLs and every cross-reference are untouched.
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title, order, status
| title | order | status |
|---|---|---|
| T01. Choosing Between OpenSSL, mbedTLS, and wolfSSL | 43 | draft |
cpp-httplib doesn't ship its own TLS implementation — it uses one of three backends that you pick at build time via a macro.
| Backend | Macro | Character |
|---|---|---|
| OpenSSL | CPPHTTPLIB_OPENSSL_SUPPORT |
Most widely used, richest feature set |
| mbedTLS | CPPHTTPLIB_MBEDTLS_SUPPORT |
Lightweight, aimed at embedded |
| wolfSSL | CPPHTTPLIB_WOLFSSL_SUPPORT |
Embedded-friendly, commercial support available |
Build-time selection
Define the macro for your chosen backend before including httplib.h:
#define CPPHTTPLIB_OPENSSL_SUPPORT
#include <httplib.h>
You'll also need to link against the backend's libraries (libssl, libcrypto, libmbedtls, libwolfssl, etc.).
Which to pick
When in doubt, OpenSSL
It has the most features and the best documentation. For normal server use or Linux desktop apps, start here — you probably won't need anything else.
To shrink binary size or target embedded
mbedTLS or wolfSSL are a better fit. They're far more compact than OpenSSL and run on memory-constrained devices.
When you need commercial support
wolfSSL offers commercial licensing and support. If you're shipping in a product, it's worth considering.
Supporting multiple backends
The usual approach is to treat each backend as a build variant and recompile the same source with different macros. cpp-httplib smooths over most of the API differences, but the backends are not 100% identical — always test.
APIs that work across all backends
Certificate verification control, standing up an SSLServer, reading the peer certificate — these all share the same API across backends:
- T02. Control SSL certificate verification
- T03. Start an SSL/TLS server
- T05. Access the peer certificate on the server
Note: On macOS with an OpenSSL-family backend, cpp-httplib automatically loads root certificates from the system keychain (via
CPPHTTPLIB_USE_CERTS_FROM_MACOSX_KEYCHAIN, on by default). To disable this, defineCPPHTTPLIB_DISABLE_MACOSX_AUTOMATIC_ROOT_CERTIFICATES.