Add configurable OpenSSL build modes and fail fast on HTTPS-only builds.

Author: cferrys

Makefile

@@ -5,16 +5,29 @@
 CXX = g++
 CXXFLAGS = -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -O2 -I./include -I./vendor/json
 LDFLAGS = 
+OPENSSL ?= auto
 
 # Build directory
 BUILD_DIR = build
 OBJ_DIR = $(BUILD_DIR)/obj
 BIN_DIR ?= .
 
-# Check for OpenSSL
-ifneq ($(shell pkg-config --exists openssl && echo yes),)
-    CXXFLAGS += -DHLQUERY_HAS_OPENSSL
+# Optional OpenSSL support
+ifeq ($(OPENSSL),1)
+    ifneq ($(shell pkg-config --exists openssl && echo yes),yes)
+        $(error OpenSSL was requested with OPENSSL=1, but pkg-config could not find openssl)
+    endif
+    CXXFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --cflags openssl) -DHLQUERY_HAS_OPENSSL
     LDFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --libs openssl)
+else ifeq ($(OPENSSL),auto)
+    ifeq ($(shell pkg-config --exists openssl && echo yes),yes)
+        CXXFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --cflags openssl) -DHLQUERY_HAS_OPENSSL
+        LDFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --libs openssl)
+    endif
+else ifeq ($(OPENSSL),0)
+    # Build HTTP-only client without OpenSSL.
+else
+    $(error Unsupported OPENSSL value '$(OPENSSL)'; use OPENSSL=auto, OPENSSL=1, or OPENSSL=0)
 endif
 
 # Source files

README.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 <div align="center">
 
-**A high-performance search engine built for modern applications**
+**A C++ API for a high-performance search engine built for modern applications**
 
 [![Twitter Follow](https://img.shields.io/twitter/url/https/x.com/hlquery.svg?style=social&label=Follow%20%40hlquery)](https://x.com/hlquery)
 [![Linux Build](https://github.com/hlquery/cpp-api/workflows/Linux%20build/badge.svg)](https://github.com/hlquery/cpp-api/actions)
@@ -47,6 +47,19 @@ cd etc/api/cpp
 make
 ```
 
+Build modes:
+
+```bash
+# Auto-detect OpenSSL with pkg-config (default)
+make
+
+# Force HTTP-only build with no OpenSSL dependency
+make OPENSSL=0
+
+# Require OpenSSL and fail fast if it is not available
+make OPENSSL=1
+```
+
 ## Building
 
 ### Using Make
@@ -69,6 +82,10 @@ make clean
 
 This removes the entire `build/` directory.
 
+On systems where OpenSSL is installed outside the default compiler include path
+(for example Homebrew on macOS), the Makefile now pulls both compiler and linker
+flags from `pkg-config`.
+
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```cpp
@@ -194,6 +211,9 @@ options["tls_verify"] = "false"; // intentionally unsafe
 hlquery::Client client("https://localhost:9200", options);
 ```
 
+If the client is built with `OPENSSL=0`, only `http://` endpoints are supported.
+Using an `https://` URL in that mode raises a `RequestException`.
+
 ### Authentication
 
 ```cpp

src/request.cpp

@@ -118,6 +118,13 @@ Response Request::makeHttpRequest(const std::string& method, const std::string&
      bool use_ssl;
      parseUrl(url, host, port, use_ssl);
 
+#if !defined(HLQUERY_HAS_OPENSSL)
+     if (use_ssl)
+     {
+          throw RequestException("HTTPS requested, but this build of the hlquery C++ client was compiled without OpenSSL support");
+     }
+#endif
+
      std::string path = url;
      if (url.find("://") != std::string::npos)
      {
@@ -276,9 +283,6 @@ Response Request::makeHttpRequest(const std::string& method, const std::string&
      {
 #ifdef HLQUERY_HAS_OPENSSL
           sent = SSL_write(ssl, request_str.c_str(), request_str.length());
-#else
-          close(sock);
-          throw RequestException("SSL not available but HTTPS URL requested");
 #endif
      }
      else