HTTP GET example for commissioned Matter Device

[Dan]

Hi - Is it possible to do an HTTP GET request from a Matter commissioned device running over thread? For example, could the Matter light_bulb sample running on an NRF5340 DK retrieve data from the internet and take some action based on that data (after it was commissioned)? I would welcome your advice and guidance on how to do so. Thanks! Dan.

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

A Matter network does not necessarily have to be connected to the Internet; It can also be offline.

However, if the Thread network is connected to the Internet via a Thread Border Router, a Matter device can use HTTP GET requests to the Internet.
The nRF Connect SDK use Sockets for networks, so the HTTP GET would mostly be the same for Wi-Fi, Thread or LTE.

The Zephyr echo client has a configuration overlay for Thread.
Other samples that may be useful include the Zephyr HTTP GET sample and the OpenThread CLI sample.

Here are a couple more things to remark on:

HTTP can be a "too large" protocol for embedded devices, requiring more power and bandwidth than wanted.
I suggest looking into CoAP, which in many ways, can be a "stripped-down" version of HTTP.
For example, CoAP also has CoAPs for security.
We have CoAP Thread samples which can be tested either with a CoAP client and CoAP server on nRF chips or by having the CoAP server in the cloud.

Now, all this has been talking about Thread and not Matter.
This is because Matter is its own application layer on top of Thread.
You can do other things on the nRF chip alongside Matter, such as CoAP or HTTP.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik