Jacob Swanner

You’ve probably used Req—Elixir’s friendly, batteries-included HTTP client—to make an API call or two. It’s simple, powerful, and gets out of your way. But what happens when you need to call the same API over and over, or deal with something a little quirky—like a non-standard authentication flow or some repetitive request setup? Do you copy-paste the same code? Wrap it in a helper? There’s a better way.

In this talk, you’ll learn how to teach Req to do exactly what you need it to do. We’ll walk step-by-step through customizing Req’s behavior so you can handle requests your way—without boilerplate or hacks. Whether you want to simplify how you talk to a specific API, automate headers, or transform responses, you’ll see how easy and rewarding it is to extend Req.

If you’re new to Elixir or just starting to explore how to build cleaner, more reusable code around APIs, this talk will show you how to level up your Req skills and make your HTTP code both smarter and simpler.

Key Takeaways:

• You’ll understand how Req works under the hood and learn how to extend Req in a clean and idiomatic way.

Target Audience:

• No deep experience required—if you know how to make a basic HTTP request, you’re ready for this. You’ll leave with practical tools and a clear mental model for making your own clean, reusable extensions, and you’ll understand how to make Req work better for you.