Helper Functions

Composer autoloads the helpers from Fetch\Support\helpers.php. They are global functions; no namespace import is required for fetch() or the HTTP verb helpers.

Request helpers

• Function: fetch()

  • Signature: fetch(string\|RequestInterface\|null $resource = null, ?array $options = [])
  • Behavior: Sends a request; with null returns the global handler; with a PSR request sends through the PSR-18 client

• Function: fetch_client()

  • Signature: fetch_client(?array $options = null, bool $reset = false): Client
  • Behavior: Gets or reconfigures the shared Fetch\Http\Client

• Function: get()

  • Signature: get(string $url, ?array $query = null, ?array $options = [])
  • Behavior: GET; second argument is query parameters

• Function: post(), put(), patch(), delete()

  • Signature: (string $url, mixed $data = null, ?array $options = [])
  • Behavior: Array data becomes a JSON body; scalar data becomes a raw body

• Function: fetch_stream()

  • Signature: fetch_stream(string $url, ?array $options = []): StreamedResponse
  • Behavior: Synchronous, unbuffered response; method may be set in options

• Function: fetch_sse()

  • Signature: fetch_sse(string $url, ?array $options = []): EventSource
  • Behavior: Synchronous SSE reader; method may be set in options

The verb helpers accept request options as the final argument. For form or multipart requests use fetch() with form or multipart, or use the handler's withFormParams() and withMultipart() methods.

Client lifetime and configuration

fetch_client() keeps one static Client. Calling fetch_client($options) creates a new client with a cloned handler and those defaults; calling fetch_client(reset: true) recreates it. Configuration is process-wide for callers using the helper. Prefer injecting an explicit Client or handler in long-lived applications and tests that need isolation.

fetch_client() returns the facade. To reach handler-specific methods, call fetch_client()->getHandler(). See client creation and options.

Matrix helper names

Fetch conditionally defines global convenience wrappers for Matrix helpers when Matrix 4 functions are available: async(), await(), all(), any(), race(), map(), batch(), and retry(). They are global functions from the Fetch helper file, while Matrix's canonical functions live in Matrix\Support. Prefer explicit imports such as:

use function Matrix\Support\async;
use function Matrix\Support\await;

Fetch global wrappers use array arguments. Matrix namespaced functions accept the iterable signatures in Matrix's API. Their timing and retry units differ; see async requests and promise operations.

Internal helper functions

request_method(), process_request_options(), extract_body_and_content_type(), and handle_request_with_base_uri() are global implementation helpers loaded with the package. They support the public helpers; application code should normally use fetch(), the verb helpers, Client, or ClientHandler instead.