Wait… cURL can do WHAT?!
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Most of us think we know curl.
We paste curl https://example.com into our terminal, maybe add a -X POST here and there, and call it a day.
But here's the truth: you're using about 2% of what this tool can actually do.
The Swiss Army Knife You've Been Ignoring
I spent years treating curl like a glorified copy paste installer.
You know, those curl | bash commands we all blindly run.
Then I discovered it supports over 30 protocols, has been actively developed by 1,000+ contributors since 1998, and powers roughly 20 billion installations worldwide.
That's one in every 10 people on Earth using curl in some form, often without knowing it.
The creator, Daniel Stenberg (just named Developer of the Year), built it originally for an IRC bot and has been maintaining it for nearly three decades.
The tool started as "httpget," later becoming "curl" – a client for URLs.
What makes it special?
It works identically across every platform imaginable, from your laptop to medical devices to Mars rovers.
We're Solving the Wrong Problem
Here's where most developers go wrong: they hit a wall with curl's syntax, get frustrated with the verbose flags, and immediately reach for alternatives.
They install wget for downloads, use Postman for API testing, grab specialized tools for proxies, and end up with a dozen dependencies doing what curl already does natively.
The real problem isn't curl – it's that nobody showed us what it can actually do.
We treat it like a hammer when it's actually a full workshop.
The Curl Arsenal: 15+ Things You Didn't Know It Could Do
Let me show you what I mean with practical examples you can use today:
1. Resume Broken Downloads
# Start downloading a large file
curl -O https://example.com/largefile.zip
# Connection dropped? Resume exactly where you left off!
curl -C - -O https://example.com/largefile.zip
2. Parallel Downloads with Globbing
# Download numbered files 1-10 simultaneously
curl -O "https://example.com/icon[1-10].svg" --parallel
3. Decode Shortened URLs (Without Clicking)
# See where a suspicious short link really goes
curl -ILs “https://bit.ly/suspicious” | grep -i location
4. Check Your Public IP
curl ifconfig.me
# or
curl checkip.amazonaws.com
5. Get Weather Reports
6. Dictionary Definitions (Using DICT Protocol)
curl dict://dict.org/d:curl
7. Read Emails via IMAP
curl --url "imaps://imap.gmail.com" \
--user "you@gmail.com:password" \
--request "EXAMINE INBOX"
8. Debug Network Performance
# See exact timing for DNS, connect, transfer
curl -w "\nDNS: %{time_namelookup}s\nConnect: %{time_connect}s\nTransfer: %{time_starttransfer}s\nTotal: %{time_total}s\n" -o /dev/null -s https://api.github.com
9. Proxy Through Local Server
curl --proxy localhost:8080 -k https://example.com
10. Send Proxy Headers
curl --haproxy-protocol https://example.com
11. AWS Authentication (Built-in)
curl --aws-sigv4 "aws:amz:us-east-1:s3" --user "ACCESS_KEY:SECRET_KEY" \
https://my-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/file.txt
12. MQTT Pub/Sub
# Subscribe to a topic
curl mqtt://test.mosquitto.org/demo/hello
# Publish to it (from another terminal)
curl -d "Hello MQTT" mqtt://test.mosquitto.org/demo/hello
13. Follow Redirects Automatically
curl -L https://example.com/redirect
14. Modern, Readable Syntax
# Old way
curl -X GET -I https://example.com
# New way (curl 7.76+)
curl --get --head https://example.com
15. Save with Remote Filename
curl -O https://curl.se/logo/curl-logo.svg
16. Get Just Headers (No Body)
curl -I https://example.com
17. Full Verbose Debug Output
curl -v https://api.example.com
Putting This Into Practice
To go beyond text with your responses pair curl with jq for JSON parsing (JQ video coming out soon on DevOps Toolbox!):
curl -s https://api.github.com/users/torvalds | jq '.name'
The Better Approach
Instead of installing new tools for every networking task, master what’s already on your machine.
Curl is:
- Pre-installed on virtually every system
- Battle-tested for 27 years(!)
- Actively maintained with modern improvements
- Capable of protocols you’ll never need (but good to know exist)
Your Next Steps
- Check your version: curl --version, if it’s years old, update it
- Bookmark curl.se for the full protocol list and docs
- Try one new curl trick this week from the list above
- Pipe to jq for instant JSON superpowers
The internet runs on curl. Now you know why.
Thank you for reading.
Feel free to reply directly with any question or feedback.
Have a great weekend!
Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:
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