httr2-binary-file.R

library(httr2)

# setup and perform the request for a file
req <- request("https://placekitten.com/200/300") %>% 
  req_perform()

# The response body contains raw data,
# so we read that into a vector (into memory so can't be super big)
resp_binary <- resp %>% resp_body_raw()

# Write the file somewhere using writeBin, here using a temp file
tmpfile <- tempfile(fileext = ".jpg")
writeBin(resp_binary, tmpfile)

# check it out: a kitten!
fs::file_show(tmpfile)

# could also do this
tmpfile2 <- tempfile(fileext = "jpg")
request("https://placekitten.com/200/300") %>% 
  req_perform(path = tmpfile2)

fs::file_show(tmpfile2)