How do I send JSON data with curl?

Set the Content-Type header and pass data with -d: curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name":"Alice"}' https://api.example.com/users

How do I see both request and response headers?

Use the -v (verbose) flag: curl -v https://api.example.com. Lines starting with > are request headers, lines with < are response headers.

How do I download a file with curl?

Use -o to specify a filename (curl -o file.zip URL) or -O to use the remote filename (curl -O URL). Add -L to follow redirects, which is common for download URLs.

Last updated: April 12, 2026

curl Commands Cheatsheet

Q: How do I download a file with curl?

Use -o to specify a filename (curl -o file.zip URL) or -O to use the remote filename (curl -O URL). Add -L to follow redirects, which is common for download URLs.

Quick Answer

curl is the universal command-line tool for making HTTP requests. Use -X for method, -H for headers, -d for body data, -o to save output, and -v for verbose debugging. This covers the 20 most useful flags.

Basic

Command	Description
curl <url>	Make a GET request and print response to stdout `curl https://api.example.com/users`
curl -o <file> <url>	Save response to a file `curl -o data.json https://api.example.com/data`
curl -O <url>	Save with the remote filename
curl -s <url>	Silent mode — suppress progress meter
curl -v <url>	Verbose — show request/response headers

Methods

Command	Description
curl -X POST <url>	Specify HTTP method (POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH) `curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users`
curl -X PUT <url>	Make a PUT request
curl -X DELETE <url>	Make a DELETE request

Headers

Command	Description
curl -H "Header: value" <url>	Set a custom header `curl -H "Authorization: Bearer token123" <url>`
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json"	Set JSON content type

Data

Command	Description
curl -d '{"key":"val"}' <url>	Send data in request body (POST by default) `curl -d '{"name":"Alice"}' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' <url>`
curl --data-raw <data> <url>	Send raw data without interpretation
curl -F "file=@path" <url>	Upload a file as multipart form data `curl -F "avatar=@photo.jpg" https://api.example.com/upload`
curl -d "key=val&key2=val2" <url>	Send form-urlencoded data

Auth

Command	Description
curl -u user:pass <url>	Basic authentication `curl -u admin:secret https://api.example.com/admin`

Options

Command	Description
curl -L <url>	Follow redirects (3xx responses)
curl -k <url>	Allow insecure SSL connections (skip cert verification)
curl --connect-timeout 5 <url>	Set connection timeout in seconds
curl -w "%{http_code}" <url>	Output specific variables (status code, time, etc.) `curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" <url>`
curl -I <url>	Fetch headers only (HEAD request) `curl -I https://example.com`

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