# Simple GET
curl https://api.example.com/users
Save output to file
curl -o output.json https://api.example.com/users
Follow redirects
curl -L https://example.com
Silent mode (no progress bar)
curl -s https://api.example.com/users
Silent but show errors
curl -sS https://api.example.com/users

# POST with JSON body
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com"}'
POST form data
curl -X POST https://example.com/login 

-d “username=alice&password=secret”
POST from a file
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/data 

-H “Content-Type: application/json” 

-d @payload.json

# PUT (full update)
curl -X PUT https://api.example.com/users/1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Alice Updated"}'
PATCH (partial update)
curl -X PATCH https://api.example.com/users/1 

-H “Content-Type: application/json” 

-d ’{“name”: “Alice Updated”}‘
DELETE
curl -X DELETE https://api.example.com/users/1

# Single header
curl -H "Accept: application/json" https://api.example.com
Multiple headers
curl -H “Content-Type: application/json” 

-H “Accept: application/json” 

-H “X-Custom-Header: value” 

https://api.example.com
See response headers
curl -I https://example.com          # Headers only (HEAD request)
curl -i https://example.com          # Headers + body
curl -v https://example.com          # Full verbose output

# Bearer token (OAuth, JWT)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  https://api.example.com/me
API key in header
curl -H “X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY” 

https://api.example.com/data
API key as query parameter
curl “https://api.example.com/data?api_key=YOUR_KEY”

# Basic authentication
curl -u username:password https://api.example.com
Prompt for password (don’t put it in command)
curl -u username https://api.example.com
Using .netrc file
curl —netrc https://api.example.com

# Upload a file
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/upload \
  -F "file=@photo.jpg"
Upload with extra fields
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/upload 

-F “file=@photo.jpg” 

-F “description=My photo” 

-F “tags=vacation”
Upload multiple files
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/upload 

-F “files=@photo1.jpg” 

-F “files=@photo2.jpg”

# Save with specific name
curl -o myfile.zip https://example.com/file.zip
Save with original filename
curl -O https://example.com/file.zip
Resume interrupted download
curl -C - -O https://example.com/large-file.zip
Download with progress bar
curl -# -O https://example.com/file.zip
Limit download speed
curl —limit-rate 1M -O https://example.com/file.zip

# Send a cookie
curl -b "session=abc123" https://example.com
Save cookies to file
curl -c cookies.txt https://example.com/login 

-d “user=alice&pass=secret”
Send cookies from file
curl -b cookies.txt https://example.com/dashboard
Save and send (session flow)
curl -c cookies.txt -b cookies.txt https://example.com

# See everything (request + response headers)
curl -v https://api.example.com
Even more detail
curl —trace - https://api.example.com
Write debug to file
curl —trace-ascii debug.txt https://api.example.com
Show timing info
curl -w “\nTime: %{time_total}s\nHTTP: %{http_code}\n” 

-s https://example.com

# Show response code only
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://example.com
Detailed timing
curl -s -o /dev/null -w ”
DNS:        %{time_namelookup}s
Connect:    %{time_connect}s
TLS:        %{time_appconnect}s
Start:      %{time_starttransfer}s
Total:      %{time_total}s
HTTP Code:  %{http_code}
” https://example.com

# Skip SSL verification (dev only!)
curl -k https://self-signed.example.com
Use specific CA certificate
curl —cacert /path/to/ca.pem https://example.com
Client certificate
curl —cert client.pem —key client-key.pem https://example.com
Force TLS version
curl —tlsv1.2 https://example.com

# GET + pretty print with jq
curl -s https://api.example.com/users | jq .
POST + check response
curl -s -X POST https://api.example.com/users 

-H “Content-Type: application/json” 

-d ’{“name”: “Alice”}’ | jq .
Chain: create then fetch
ID=$(curl -s -X POST https://api.example.com/users 

-H “Content-Type: application/json” 

-d ’{“name”: “Alice”}’ | jq -r ‘.id’)
curl -s https://api.example.com/users/$ID | jq .

# Set timeout (seconds)
curl --connect-timeout 5 --max-time 30 https://example.com
Retry on failure
curl —retry 3 —retry-delay 2 https://example.com
Retry on specific HTTP codes
curl —retry 3 —retry-all-errors https://example.com

# HTTP proxy
curl -x http://proxy:8080 https://example.com
SOCKS5 proxy
curl —socks5 localhost:1080 https://example.com
No proxy for specific hosts
curl —noproxy “localhost,127.0.0.1” https://example.com