What is the best way to handle HTTP requests within a plugin using Yii or Craft?

Question

I have a custom module which is moderating content before entry save, I am looking to use a Microsoft Azure API to handle the moderation, in their documentation they use a HTTP library to make the request.

Is there something which Yii or Craft already offers which I could utilise, if so, how would I perform the same function which is below.

The example provided by MS Azure is below. {body} would be content which I pass in.

<?php
// This sample uses the Apache HTTP client from HTTP Components (http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/)
require_once 'HTTP/Request2.php';

$request = new Http_Request2('https://westus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/contentmoderator/moderate/v1.0/ProcessText/Screen');
$url = $request->getUrl();

$headers = array(
    // Request headers
    'Content-Type' => 'text/plain',
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' => '{subscription key}',
);

$request->setHeader($headers);

$parameters = array(
    // Request parameters
    'autocorrect' => '{boolean}',
    'PII' => '{boolean}',
    'listId' => '{string}',
    'classify' => 'True',
    'language' => '{string}',
);

$url->setQueryVariables($parameters);

$request->setMethod(HTTP_Request2::METHOD_POST);

// Request body
$request->setBody("{body}");

try
{
    $response = $request->send();
    echo $response->getBody();
}
catch (HttpException $ex)
{
    echo $ex;
}

Thanks

Answer 1

Craft includes Guzzle which is very full-featured... I'd use that.

Sorry I don't have time for converting your example but here's a simplified version of how to use it in a Craft plugin:

$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://www.example.com/api',
    'http_errors' => false,
    'timeout' => 10
]);

$data = ['some' => 'stuff'];
$uri = 'post-a-thing'

$response = $client->request(
    'POST',
    $uri, [
        'body' => json_encode($data),
        'headers' => [
            'User-Agent' => 'CraftCMS',
            'Content-type' => 'application/json'
        ]
    ]
);

(I usually set http_errors to false so that I can handle http error responses in my own code and fail more gracefully than Guzzle).

Answer 2

With the help of James Smith answer by suggesting Guzzle I was able to put the request together. I will post the working answer for future reference.

use GuzzleHttp\Client as GuzzleClient;

/**
 * Use Microsoft Azure Content Moderator API
 */
 $client = new GuzzleClient([
    'base_uri' => 'https://uksouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/',
    'http_errors' => false,
    'timeout' => 10
]);

$response = $client->request(
    'POST',
    'contentmoderator/moderate/v1.0/ProcessText/Screen',
    [
        'headers' => [
            'Content-Type' => 'text/plain',
            'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' => '1234', // Add your key here
        ],
        'query' => [
            'autocorrect' => false,
            'PII' => true,
            'listId' => null,
            'classify' => true
        ],
        'body' => 'Your string to moderate goes here'
    ]
);

echo $response->getBody();