Simple example which shows usage of Elm's Http module to get some string response from GitHub api. Ellie link: https://ellie-app.com/bPZKsNPCa1/0

HttpGetEx.elm

module Main exposing (main)

import Html as Html exposing (..)
import Http as Http

type alias Model = String

type Msg =
    UpdateLicenses (Result Http.Error String)

main : Program Never Model Msg
main =
    Html.program
        { init = ("loading licenses...", getGithubLicenses ())
        , update = update
        , view = view
        , subscriptions = \_ -> Sub.none
        }
        
update : Msg -> Model -> (Model, Cmd msg)
update msg model =
    case msg of
        UpdateLicenses (Ok json) ->
            ( json, Cmd.none)
        UpdateLicenses (Err e) ->
            ( "error ocurred", Cmd.none )

view : Model -> Html msg
view model =
    text model
    
 
getGithubLicenses : () -> Cmd Msg
getGithubLicenses () =
    let
        request =
            Http.getString "https://api.github.com/licenses"
    in
        Http.send UpdateLicenses request