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curl https://example.comNotes
The basic curl invocation fetches a URL and prints the response body to stdout.
cURL Cheat Sheet
High-coverage curl commands for HTTP requests, APIs, downloads, uploads, cookies, redirects, and automation.
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Basics and Output
Core requests, saving output, redirects, and response metadata.
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curl -L https://example.comNotes
Use `-L` or `--location` when you expect redirects from short links, login gateways, or moved pages.
Save using remote filename
Download and save using the server-provided path basename.
bashANYcurldownloadoutput
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curl -O https://example.com/file.tar.gzNotes
`-O` uses the remote path basename for the local filename.
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curl -o response.html https://example.comNotes
`-o` lets you control the destination filename.
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curl -i https://example.comNotes
`-i` includes response headers in the output stream.
Fetch headers only
Send a HEAD request to inspect headers without downloading the body.
bashANYcurlheadheaders
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curl -I https://example.comNotes
Useful for checking status, content type, caching headers, or redirects.
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curl -sS https://example.comNotes
`-sS` is a common scripting pattern that keeps output clean while surfacing failures.
Write response metadata
Print status code and timing data after the transfer.
bashANYcurlwrite-outtiming
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curl -s -o /dev/null -w 'status=%{http_code} time=%{time_total}
' https://example.comNotes
`-w` / `--write-out` is great for monitoring, scripts, and diagnostics.
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curl --fail -sS https://api.example.com/dataNotes
`--fail` is useful in scripts so error responses do not look like success.
Disable URL globbing
Turn off curl URL glob expansion for literal brackets or braces.
bashANYcurlurlglobbing
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curl --globoff 'https://example.com/items[1]'Notes
curl supports URL globbing; `--globoff` disables it when special characters should be treated literally.
Request Shaping
Methods, query strings, headers, cookies, referer, and user agent.
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curl -X POST https://example.com/resourceNotes
Using `-X POST` changes the method even without request data.
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curl -X DELETE https://example.com/resource/123Notes
`-X` overrides the request method.
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curl 'https://example.com/search?q=curl&sort=new'Notes
Quote URLs containing `&` to prevent shell interpretation.
Append query parameters with --get
Build a GET query string from data parameters.
bashANYcurlqueryget
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curl --get --data-urlencode 'q=curl examples' https://example.com/searchNotes
`--get` converts `-d` data into query string parameters.
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curl -H 'Accept: application/json' https://api.example.com/itemsNotes
Use `-H` repeatedly to send multiple headers.
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curl -A 'Mozilla/5.0 test-client' https://example.comNotes
`-A` / `--user-agent` sets the request's User-Agent.
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curl -e 'https://example.com/from' https://example.com/toNotes
Useful when testing apps that rely on referer checks.
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curl -b 'session=abc123; theme=dark' https://example.comNotes
`-b` / `--cookie` can send cookies inline or from a file.
Store received cookies
Write cookies set by the server into a cookie jar file.
bashANYcurlcookiessession
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curl -c cookies.txt https://example.com/loginNotes
Commonly paired with `-b cookies.txt` for session persistence.
Reuse cookies from a cookie jar
Load cookies from a file and save updated cookies back.
bashANYcurlcookiessession
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curl -b cookies.txt -c cookies.txt https://example.com/profileNotes
This is a common pattern for multi-step login flows.
Forms and Upload
Multipart forms, file uploads, binary payloads, and transfer tricks.
Submit a multipart form field
Send a simple form field using multipart/form-data.
bashANYcurlmultipartforms
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curl -F 'name=jon' https://example.com/formNotes
`-F` creates multipart form requests.
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curl -F 'file=@./report.pdf' https://example.com/uploadNotes
Prefix a filename with `@` to upload its content.
Upload a file with explicit content type
Specify the filename part and content type.
bashANYcurluploadmultipartmime
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curl -F 'file=@./image.png;type=image/png' https://example.com/uploadNotes
Handy when the server expects a precise MIME type.
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curl -T ./artifact.zip https://example.com/artifact.zipNotes
`-T` / `--upload-file` is useful for HTTP, FTP, and other protocols.
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curl --data-raw '{"ok":true}' https://api.example.com/itemsNotes
`--data-raw` avoids the special `@` file semantics of `-d`.
Send binary request data
Send binary-safe request data without transformations.
bashANYcurlbinaryupload
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curl --data-binary @payload.bin https://api.example.com/uploadNotes
Use this for payloads where newlines and bytes must be preserved.
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curl --data-urlencode 'message=hello world & more' https://example.com/submitNotes
This escapes reserved characters for you.
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curl -C - -O https://example.com/large.isoNotes
`-C -` auto-detects the current file size and requests the remainder.
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curl -r 0-1023 https://example.com/bigfile.bin -o first-kb.binNotes
Useful for partial downloads, debugging, and media requests.
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curl --parallel --parallel-max 4 -O https://example.com/a.iso -O https://example.com/b.isoNotes
curl supports parallel transfers in recent versions.
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