Getting Services

HttpClientServiceProvider publishes two service IDs into your container. The most important choice is whether your own code should depend on the portable PSR-18 client contract or on Symfony's native client API.

Service Map

Service ID	Resolved object	Use it when
`Psr\Http\Client\ClientInterface`	`Symfony\Component\HttpClient\Psr18Client`	Your application code should stay portable and PSR-18 focused.
`Symfony\Component\HttpClient\HttpClient`	A runtime-selected `Symfony\Contracts\HttpClient\HttpClientInterface` implementation	You want direct access to Symfony's native `request()` API and option model.

Retrieving Services

use Psr\Http\Client\ClientInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\RequestFactoryInterface;
use Symfony\Component\HttpClient\HttpClient;
use Symfony\Contracts\HttpClient\HttpClientInterface;

/** @var ClientInterface $psr18Client */
$psr18Client = $container->get(ClientInterface::class);

/** @var RequestFactoryInterface $requestFactory */
$requestFactory = $container->get(RequestFactoryInterface::class);

/** @var HttpClientInterface $symfonyClient */
$symfonyClient = $container->get(HttpClient::class);

Choosing The Right ID

For most application services, prefer ClientInterface :

it reflects the actual contract your code needs;
it is easier to mock in tests;
it keeps your service independent from Symfony-specific features.

Reach for HttpClient::class when you specifically need native Symfony capabilities such as request() , streaming helpers, or withOptions() .

HttpClient::class is a service identifier, not the runtime interface you would usually type-hint in a constructor. HttpClient::create() returns a Symfony\Contracts\HttpClient\HttpClientInterface implementation chosen at runtime, so constructor injection is usually clearer if you register your own alias for Symfony\Contracts\HttpClient\HttpClientInterface .

Important Dependencies

Resolving ClientInterface requires these services to be available first:

Psr\Http\Message\ResponseFactoryInterface
Psr\Http\Message\StreamFactoryInterface

This provider does not register them. In a FastForward application, they usually come from FastForward\Http\Message\Factory\ServiceProvider\HttpMessageFactoryServiceProvider .

The provider also does not register Psr\Http\Message\RequestFactoryInterface . If you want to build outgoing PSR-7 requests in your own services, make sure a request factory provider is registered too.

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