cURL Commands Cheat Sheet — HTTP Requests, Headers & Flags
High-frequency cURL commands for testing REST APIs, sending JSON payloads, inspecting response headers, and downloading files.
Sending Requests & Payloads
curl -i https://api.example.com/users
Send standard GET request and display HTTP response headers + body
curl -X POST https://api.com/users -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Alice"}'
Send POST request with raw JSON body payload
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" https://api.com/profile
Send Bearer JWT authentication header
curl -u username:password https://api.example.com
Send HTTP Basic Authentication credentials
Downloads & Advanced Flags
curl -O -L https://example.com/download.zip
Download file using remote filename and follow 301/302 redirects (-L)
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://example.com
Quietly query URL and print ONLY the HTTP status code number
curl -k https://localhost:8443
Allow self-signed or invalid SSL certificates (insecure development)