curl

curl transfers data over HTTP(S), FTP and many other protocols. For TLS debugging also see OpenSSL.

Documentation: curl Docs

Common Options #

OPTION	DESCRIPTION
`-s`	Silent (no progress bar)
`-S`	Show errors even when silent (use as `-sS`)
`-f`	Fail on HTTP errors (exit non-zero for 4xx/5xx)
`-L`	Follow redirects
`-o <FILE>` / `-O`	Save to a file / save using the remote name
`-I`	Headers only (HEAD request)
`-i`	Include response headers in output
`-v`	Verbose, shows the request and TLS handshake
`-k`	Skip certificate verification (testing only)
`-H "Name: value"`	Add a header
`-X <METHOD>`	Set the HTTP method
`-d <DATA>`	Send a POST body
`-u <USER>:<PASS>`	Basic auth
`-A "<UA>"`	User agent
`-m <SEC>`	Max total time
`--connect-timeout <SEC>`	Connection timeout
`--retry <N>`	Retry on transient errors
`-C -`	Resume a download
`-w "<FORMAT>"`	Print info after the transfer
`--resolve <HOST>:<PORT>:<IP>`	Override DNS for one request
`-x <PROXY>`	Use a proxy

Reliable script default: curl -fsSL <URL>

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`curl -fsSL <URL> -o <FILE>`	Download a file
`curl -I <URL>`	Show response headers
`curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"a":1}' <URL>`	POST JSON
`curl --json '{"a":1}' <URL>`	POST JSON (curl 7.82+, sets headers)
`curl -d "a=1&b=2" <URL>`	POST form data
`curl -F "file=@photo.jpg" <URL>`	Upload a file (multipart)
`curl -T file.txt <URL>`	PUT a file
`curl -X DELETE <URL>`	DELETE
`curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" <URL>`	Bearer token
`curl -u <USER>:<PASS> <URL>`	Basic auth
`curl --cookie-jar jar.txt <URL>` / `--cookie jar.txt`	Save / send cookies
`curl --data-urlencode "q=hello world" <URL>`	URL-encode data
`curl 'https://example.com/file[1-5].txt' -O`	Download a range

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`curl -o /dev/null -sS -w "%{http_code}\n" <URL>`	Print only the status code
`curl -o /dev/null -sS -w "dns:%{time_namelookup} connect:%{time_connect} tls:%{time_appconnect} ttfb:%{time_starttransfer} total:%{time_total}\n" <URL>`	Timing breakdown
`curl -sS -o /dev/null -w "%{redirect_url}\n" <URL>`	Where a redirect goes
`curl -v --http2 <URL>` / `--http1.1` / `--http3`	Force an HTTP version
`curl --tlsv1.2 --tls-max 1.2 <URL>`	Force TLS 1.2
`curl --resolve example.com:443:203.0.113.10 https://example.com`	Test a server before changing DNS
`curl --interface <IF> <URL>`	Use a specific network interface
`curl -4 <URL>` / `-6`	Force IPv4 / IPv6
`curl ifconfig.me`	Your public IP

bash

curl -fsS https://api.github.com/repos/<OWNER>/<REPO>/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name

See jq.

~/.curlrc applies defaults, for example:

--fail
--location
--silent
--show-error