Code & computing / QUICK REFERENCE

curl request essentials

Inspect HTTP responses, save files and send deliberate requests with explicit timeout and security behavior.

24 entries

Inspect responses

GET a page: curl https://example.com
Writes the response body to stdout. [1]
HEAD request: curl -I https://example.com
Requests headers; this is a HEAD method, not a GET without a body. [1]
Headers plus body: curl -i https://example.com
Includes response headers in output. [1]
Verbose connection details: curl -v https://example.com
Diagnostic output can expose headers and credentials. [1]
Follow redirects: curl -L https://example.com
Follows Location responses; confirm redirected destinations. [1]
Write headers separately: curl -D headers.txt -o body.html https://example.com
Writes or replaces two local files. [1]
Print status code: curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' https://example.com
A 404 does not make plain curl fail by default. [1]
Fail on HTTP errors: curl --fail-with-body https://example.com
Nonzero exit for HTTP errors while retaining the body on supported curl versions. [1]

Request JSON: curl -H 'Accept: application/json' https://example.com
Accept describes the desired response format. [2][1]
Custom header: curl -H 'X-Request-Label: atlas' https://example.com
Headers are sent to the remote endpoint. [2][1]
Encode GET parameters: curl -G --data-urlencode 'q=hello world' https://example.com
Appends an encoded query parameter. [2][1]
POST form data: curl --data-urlencode 'name=Atlas' https://example.com
Sends form data; this may change remote state. [2][1]
POST JSON: curl --json '{"name":"Atlas"}' https://example.com
Adds JSON headers and a request body on supported versions. [2][1]
Send JSON from a file: curl --json @request.json https://example.com
Reads the file as the request body. [2][1]
Send binary body unchanged: curl --data-binary @payload.bin https://example.com
Preserves bytes; choose Content-Type explicitly when needed. [2][1]
Use a trusted config file: curl --config request.conf
Configuration can send credentials; inspect its contents first. [2][1]

Connection timeout: curl --connect-timeout 5 https://example.com
Bounds connection establishment, not the whole transfer. [3][1]
Whole-operation timeout: curl --max-time 20 https://example.com
Bounds the overall operation duration. [3][1]
Retry selected failures: curl --retry 3 https://example.com
Review retry safety before sending non-idempotent requests. [3][1]
Bound retry period: curl --retry 3 --retry-max-time 30 https://example.com
Stops starting retries after the configured period. [3][1]
Quiet but show errors: curl -sS https://example.com
Removes the progress meter, not error reporting. [3][1]
Choose output filename: curl -o page.html https://example.com
Creates or overwrites the specified file. [3][1]
Restrict allowed protocols: curl --proto '=https' --proto-redir '=https' -L https://example.com
Restricts initial and redirected transfer protocols. [3][1]
Installed capabilities: curl --version
Lists supported protocols, TLS backend and features. [3][1]

Reserved placement, separate from reference controls. No ad network is active.

Updated 2026-10-19curl · modern command-line options

cheatsheetatlas.com/sheets/curl/ · Updated 2026-10-19 · curl · modern command-line options