# Making query API requests using AWS query protocol in Amazon SQS
<a name="sqs-making-api-requests-xml"></a>

This topic explains how to construct an Amazon SQS endpoint, make GET and POST requests, and interpret responses.

## Constructing an endpoint
<a name="sqs-api-constructing-endpoints"></a>

In order to work with Amazon SQS queues, you must construct an endpoint. For information about Amazon SQS endpoints, see the following pages in the *Amazon Web Services General Reference*:
+ [Regional endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/rande.html#sqs_region)
+ [Amazon Simple Queue Service endpoints and quotas](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/sqs-service)

Every Amazon SQS endpoint is independent. For example, if two queues are named *MyQueue* and one has the endpoint `sqs.us-east-2.amazonaws.com` while the other has the endpoint `sqs.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com`, the two queues don't share any data with each other.

The following is an example of an endpoint which makes a request to create a queue. 

```
https://sqs.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/   
?Action=CreateQueue
&DefaultVisibilityTimeout=40
&QueueName=MyQueue
&Version=2012-11-05
&AUTHPARAMS
```

**Note**  
Queue names and queue URLs are case sensitive.  
The structure of *`AUTHPARAMS`* depends on the signature of the API request. For more information, see [Signing AWS API Requests](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/signing_aws_api_requests.html) in the *Amazon Web Services General Reference*.

## Making a GET request
<a name="structure-get-request"></a>

An Amazon SQS GET request is structured as a URL which consists of the following:
+ **Endpoint** – The resource that the request is acting on (the [queue name and URL](sqs-queue-message-identifiers.md#queue-name-url)), for example: `https://sqs.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/123456789012/MyQueue`
+ **Action** – The [action](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/APIReference/API_Operations.html) that you want to perform on the endpoint. A question mark (`?`) separates the endpoint from the action, for example: `?Action=SendMessage&MessageBody=Your%20Message%20Text`
+ **Parameters** – Any request parameters. Each parameter is separated by an ampersand (`&`), for example: `&Version=2012-11-05&AUTHPARAMS` 

The following is an example of a GET request that sends a message to an Amazon SQS queue.

```
https://sqs.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/123456789012/MyQueue
?Action=SendMessage&MessageBody=Your%20message%20text
&Version=2012-11-05
&AUTHPARAMS
```

**Note**  
Queue names and queue URLs are case sensitive.  
Because GET requests are URLs, you must URL-encode all parameter values. Because spaces aren't allowed in URLs, each space is URL-encoded as `%20`. The rest of the example isn't URL-encoded to make it easier to read.

## Making a POST request
<a name="structure-post-request"></a>

An Amazon SQS POST request sends query parameters as a form in the body of an HTTP request.

The following is an example of an HTTP header with `Content-Type` set to `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`.

```
POST /123456789012/MyQueue HTTP/1.1
Host: sqs.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
```

The header is followed by a `[form-urlencoded](https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_8.html#SEC8.2)` GET request that sends a message to an Amazon SQS queue. Each parameter is separated by an ampersand (`&`).

```
Action=SendMessage
&MessageBody=Your+Message+Text
&Expires=2020-10-15T12%3A00%3A00Z
&Version=2012-11-05
&AUTHPARAMS
```

**Note**  
Only the `Content-Type` HTTP header is required. The `AUTHPARAMS` is the same as for the GET request.  
Your HTTP client might add other items to the HTTP request, according to the client's HTTP version.