Make.com HTTP Module: Connect Any App Without Code

Make.com's built-in app modules cover hundreds of popular platforms. But what happens when you need to connect a niche industry tool, a custom internal system, or an app that Make.com does not natively support? That is where the HTTP module becomes your most powerful tool. It lets you communicate directly with any API on the internet, turning Make.com from a connector of popular apps into a universal integration platform.

This guide walks you through the HTTP module from fundamentals to advanced patterns, including authentication strategies, response parsing, error handling, and real-world examples drawn from the kind of business automation work we do at OrderSync Pro.

Understanding the HTTP Module Basics

The HTTP module in Make.com sends HTTP requests to any URL and returns the response for use in your scenario. At its core, it performs the same operation your browser does when you visit a website, but instead of rendering a page, it captures the data for processing in your automation workflow.

Make.com offers several HTTP module variants. The "Make a request" module is the most versatile, supporting GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE methods. The "Make a Basic Auth request" module simplifies scenarios where the API uses basic authentication. The "Make an API Key Auth request" module handles APIs that authenticate via API keys in headers or query parameters. And the "Make an OAuth 2.0 request" module manages the token refresh cycle for OAuth-based APIs automatically.

To make your first HTTP request, you need three pieces of information from the API documentation: the endpoint URL, the HTTP method, and the required headers. For a simple GET request to retrieve data, you would configure the URL field with the API endpoint, set the method to GET, add an Authorization header with your API key, and set the "Parse response" toggle to Yes so Make.com automatically converts the JSON response into usable data fields.

Figure 1: The lifecycle of an HTTP request in Make.com, from constructing the request to parsing the API response into mappable data fields.

Authentication: Getting Past the Front Door

Authentication is where most people get stuck with the HTTP module. Different APIs use different authentication methods, and understanding which one your target API requires is the first step.

API Key authentication is the simplest. The API provides a static key that you include in either a header or a query parameter with each request. In Make.com, you add this to the Headers section of the HTTP module, typically as "Authorization: Bearer your-api-key" or as a custom header like "X-API-Key: your-key." Store the key in a Make.com connection or variable rather than hardcoding it into individual modules so you can update it in one place if it changes.

OAuth 2.0 authentication is more complex but Make.com handles the heavy lifting. When you configure an OAuth 2.0 connection, you provide the authorization URL, token URL, client ID, client secret, and required scopes. Make.com manages the initial authorization flow and automatically refreshes expired tokens. This is the authentication method used by most modern platforms including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Shopify.

Some legacy APIs use Basic Authentication, which sends a base64-encoded username and password with each request. Make.com's dedicated Basic Auth HTTP module handles the encoding automatically. You simply enter the username and password, and it constructs the proper Authorization header.

Parsing Responses: Extracting the Data You Need

When "Parse response" is enabled, Make.com automatically converts JSON responses into a structured object you can map in subsequent modules. For simple, flat JSON responses, this works seamlessly. You click into a downstream module's field, and the response properties appear as mappable items.

Nested JSON structures require more attention. If the API returns data inside nested objects or arrays, you may need to use Make.com's built-in functions to drill into the response. The get() function accesses nested properties, and the iterator module processes arrays of items. For example, if an API returns an array of orders inside a "data" property, you would map the response to an iterator that processes each order individually.

XML responses require an additional step. Set "Parse response" to No, capture the raw body as text, then use Make.com's XML parser module to convert it into a structured format. Some older B2B and enterprise APIs still use XML, and this two-step approach handles them reliably.

Error Handling: Building Resilient Automations

APIs fail. Servers go down, rate limits get hit, authentication tokens expire, and payloads contain unexpected data. The HTTP module without error handling will cause your entire scenario to fail when any of these occur. Building resilient HTTP automations requires a deliberate error handling strategy.

Make.com offers several error handling patterns for HTTP modules. The retry directive automatically re-executes the module after a configurable delay. This is ideal for transient errors like rate limiting (HTTP 429) or temporary server errors (HTTP 503). Configure retries with exponential backoff: first retry after 1 minute, second after 5 minutes, third after 15 minutes.

For non-transient errors, use the error handler route. Right-click the HTTP module, add an error handler, and configure it to route to a notification module that alerts you via email or Slack when a request fails permanently. Include the error status code, error message, and the original request payload in the notification so you have the context needed to diagnose the issue.

The difference between a fragile automation and a production-grade workflow is error handling. Every HTTP module should have at minimum a retry directive and an error notification route. Without these, you are building on a foundation that will crack under real-world conditions.

Real-World Examples

Consider a wholesale distributor whose suppliers provide inventory data through a custom API that Make.com does not natively support. Using the HTTP module, you can build a scenario that polls the supplier API every hour, compares current stock levels against internal thresholds, and automatically creates purchase orders when inventory drops below minimum levels. The HTTP module handles the API communication while Make.com's logic modules manage the business rules.

Another common use case involves connecting a custom-built order management system to accounting software. The order system exposes an API for retrieving completed orders. An HTTP GET request pulls new orders on a schedule, a series of transformation modules map the order data to the accounting system's format, and a final HTTP POST request creates the invoice in the accounting platform. This pattern eliminates hours of manual data entry between disconnected systems.

Figure 2: A production Make.com scenario using HTTP modules to fetch orders from a custom API, transform data, and create invoices with error handling.

Best Practices for Production Use

Always store API credentials in Make.com connections rather than hardcoding them into module configurations. This keeps credentials secure and makes rotation painless. Use Make.com's built-in logging to track every HTTP request and response during development, then reduce logging verbosity once the scenario is stable. Implement rate limiting awareness by adding delay modules between HTTP requests when processing batches, especially when the target API has documented rate limits.

The HTTP module transforms Make.com from a tool that connects supported apps into a platform that connects everything. Mastering it is the single most valuable skill for anyone building serious business automations, and it eliminates the "but Make.com doesn't support that app" objection entirely.