http: simplify the approach

nodejs-github-bot · Sep 26, 2026 · Jul 31, 2026 · Aug 1, 2026 · Sep 16, 2026 · Sep 20, 2026
commit be15e6624e2ce9ac6bd0c40b136f69801c59968e
diff --git a/doc/api/http.md b/doc/api/http.md
@@ -4113,9 +4113,6 @@ changes:
     E.G. `'/index.html?page=12'`. An exception is thrown when the request path
     contains illegal characters. Currently, only spaces are rejected but that
     may change in the future. **Default:** `'/'`.
-    With `method` set to `'CONNECT'`, `path` must be an authority in the form
-    `host:port`, such as `'www.example.com:80'` or `'[2001:db8::1]:443'`.
-    Invalid values throw an `ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE` error.
     The content in `path` is sent as the [request target][] in the HTTP 1.1 message.
     When `path` is an absolute URL, this means the request target in the message in [absolute form][].
     If the receiving server is a proxy, the server typically forwards the request to the

diff --git a/lib/_http_client.js b/lib/_http_client.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
   ObjectAssign,
   ObjectDefineProperty,
   ObjectKeys,
+  ObjectPrototypeHasOwnProperty,
   ObjectSetPrototypeOf,
   ReflectApply,
   String,
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@
 const Agent = require('_http_agent');
 const { Buffer } = require('buffer');
 const { defaultTriggerAsyncIdScope } = require('internal/async_hooks');
-const { URL, URLParse, urlToHttpOptions, isURL } = require('internal/url');
+const { URL, urlToHttpOptions, isURL } = require('internal/url');
 const {
   kOutHeaders,
   kNeedDrain,
@@ -121,7 +122,6 @@
 });
 
 const INVALID_PATH_REGEX = /[^\u0021-\u00ff]/;
-const CONNECT_PATH_REGEX = /^(\[[^\]]+\]|[^:]+):(\d+)$/;
 const kError = Symbol('kError');
 const kPath = Symbol('kPath');
 const kAuthority = Symbol('kAuthority');
@@ -194,22 +194,6 @@
   return parsed.host === canonicalHost;
 }
 
-function isValidConnectPath(path) {
-  const match = CONNECT_PATH_REGEX.exec(path);
-  if (match === null || +match[2] === 0) {
-    return false;
-  }
-
-  const url = URLParse(`http://${path}`);
-  return url !== null &&
-    url.hostname !== '' &&
-    url.username === '' &&
-    url.password === '' &&
-    url.pathname === '/' &&
-    url.search === '' &&
-    url.hash === '';
-}
-
 // https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9112#section-3.2
 // When the request target is in absolute-form, ensure it is consistent with
 // the request authority: same scheme, no userinfo, and an authority
@@ -348,12 +332,15 @@
 function ClientRequest(input, options, cb) {
   OutgoingMessage.call(this);
 
+  let pathIsFromURL = false;
   if (typeof input === 'string') {
     const urlStr = input;
     input = urlToHttpOptions(new URL(urlStr));
+    pathIsFromURL = true;
   } else if (isURL(input)) {
     // url.URL instance
     input = urlToHttpOptions(input);
+    pathIsFromURL = true;
   } else {
     cb = options;
     options = input;
@@ -364,6 +351,13 @@
     cb = options;
     options = input || kEmptyObject;
   } else {
+    const hasPathOverride = pathIsFromURL &&
+      options != null &&
+      ObjectPrototypeHasOwnProperty(options, 'path');
+    if (hasPathOverride) {
+      pathIsFromURL = false;
+    }
+
     options = ObjectAssign({ __proto__: null }, input, options);
   }
 
@@ -484,19 +478,9 @@
   this.joinDuplicateHeaders = options.joinDuplicateHeaders;
 
   let path = options.path || '/';
-  if (method === 'CONNECT' && options.path != null) {
-    path = String(options.path);
-    if (path[0] === '/') {
-      path = path.slice(1) || '/';
-    }
-
-    if (!isValidConnectPath(path)) {
-      throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE(
-        'options.path',
-        path,
-        'must be a valid host:port combo',
-      );
-    }
+  // Strip the leading slash added when the CONNECT target comes from a URL.
+  if (method === 'CONNECT' && pathIsFromURL && path[0] === '/') {
+    path = path.slice(1) || '/';
   }
 
   this[kPath] = path;

diff --git a/test/parallel/test-http-request-connect-path.js b/test/parallel/test-http-request-connect-path.js
@@ -4,37 +4,18 @@ const common = require('../common');
 const assert = require('assert');
 const http = require('http');
 
-for (const path of [
-  '',
-  'example.com',
-  'example.com:0',
-  'example.com:65536',
-  'example.com:8080/example',
-  'evil.com:666/good.org:777',
-  '/example.com',
-]) {
-  assert.throws(() => http.request({
-    method: 'CONNECT',
-    path,
-  }), {
-    code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE',
-    name: 'TypeError',
-    message: /^The property 'options\.path' must be a valid host:port combo\./,
-  });
-}
-
 {
   const server = http.createServer(common.mustNotCall());
 
   server.on('connect', common.mustCall((req, socket) => {
-    assert.strictEqual(req.url, 'example.com:80');
+    assert.strictEqual(req.url, 'example.com');
     socket.end('HTTP/1.1 501 Not Implemented\r\n\r\n');
   }));
 
   server.listen(0, common.mustCall(() => {
     const port = server.address().port;
     const req = http.request(
-      new URL(`http://localhost:${port}/example.com:80`),
+      new URL(`http://localhost:${port}/example.com`),
       { method: 'CONNECT' },
     );
 
@@ -52,7 +33,7 @@ for (const path of [
   const server = http.createServer(common.mustNotCall());
 
   server.on('connect', common.mustCall((req, socket) => {
-    assert.strictEqual(req.url, '[2001:db8::1]:111');
+    assert.strictEqual(req.url, '/example.com');
     socket.end('HTTP/1.1 501 Not Implemented\r\n\r\n');
   }));
 
@@ -61,7 +42,7 @@ for (const path of [
       host: 'localhost',
       port: server.address().port,
       method: 'CONNECT',
-      path: '[2001:db8::1]:111',
+      path: '/example.com',
     });
 
     req.on('connect', common.mustCall((res, socket) => {