Curl (client for URLs) is a tool for client-side internet transfers (uploads and downloads) using a specific protocol (such as HTTP, FTP or IMAP), where the endpoint is identified by a URL. Curl runs on 92 operating systems and has over 20 billion installations worldwide.
Curl has extensive reference documentation and even a 500-page book devoted entirely to it. I wanted something lighter, so I made this interactive step-by-step guide to essential curl operations. You can read it from start to finish to (hopefully) learn more about curl, or jump to a specific use case that interests you.
The guide is available in the following formats:
Download PDF (1 MB) | Read online | Try playground
The guide is partially based on the 3.5-hour workshop Mastering the curl command line by Daniel Stenberg, the author of curl.
Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
Anton Zhiyanov, 2024