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CURLOPT_URL(3)                      libcurl                     CURLOPT_URL(3)


NAME

       CURLOPT_URL - URL for this transfer


SYNOPSIS

       #include <curl/curl.h>

       CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_URL, char *URL);


DESCRIPTION

       Pass in a pointer to the URL to work with. The parameter should be a
       char * to a null-terminated string which must be URL-encoded in the
       following format:

       scheme://host:port/path

       For a greater explanation of the format please see RFC3986.

       libcurl does not validate the syntax or use this variable until the
       transfer is issued. Even if you set a crazy value here,
       curl_easy_setopt(3) will still return CURLE_OK.

       If the given URL is missing a scheme name (such as "http://" or
       "ftp://" etc) then libcurl will make a guess based on the host. If the
       outermost sub-domain name matches DICT, FTP, IMAP, LDAP, POP3 or SMTP
       then that protocol will be used, otherwise HTTP will be used. Since
       7.45.0 guessing can be disabled by setting a default protocol, see
       CURLOPT_DEFAULT_PROTOCOL(3) for details.

       Should the protocol, either that specified by the scheme or deduced by
       libcurl from the host name, not be supported by libcurl then
       CURLE_UNSUPPORTED_PROTOCOL will be returned from either the
       curl_easy_perform(3) or curl_multi_perform(3) functions when you call
       them. Use curl_version_info(3) for detailed information of which
       protocols are supported by the build of libcurl you are using.

       CURLOPT_PROTOCOLS(3) can be used to limit what protocols libcurl will
       use for this transfer, independent of what libcurl has been compiled to
       support. That may be useful if you accept the URL from an external
       source and want to limit the accessibility.

       The CURLOPT_URL(3) string will be ignored if CURLOPT_CURLU(3) is set.

       CURLOPT_URL(3) or CURLOPT_CURLU(3) must be set before a transfer is
       started.

       The application does not have to keep the string around after setting
       this option.


ENCODING

       The string pointed to in the CURLOPT_URL(3) argument is generally
       expected to be a sequence of characters using an ASCII compatible
       encoding.

       If libcurl is built with IDN support, the server name part of the URL
       can use an "international name" by using the current encoding
       (according to locale) or UTF-8 (when winidn is used; or a Windows
       Unicode build using libidn2).

       If libcurl is built without IDN support, the server name is used
       exactly as specified when passed to the name resolver functions.


DEFAULT

       There is no default URL. If this option is not set, no transfer can be
       performed.


SECURITY CONCERNS

       Applications may at times find it convenient to allow users to specify
       URLs for various purposes and that string would then end up fed to this
       option.

       Getting a URL from an external untrusted party will bring reasons for
       several security concerns:

       If you have an application that runs as or in a server application,
       getting an unfiltered URL can easily trick your application to access a
       local resource instead of a remote. Protecting yourself against
       localhost accesses is hard when accepting user provided URLs.

       Such custom URLs can also access other ports than you planned as port
       numbers are part of the regular URL format. The combination of a local
       host and a custom port number can allow external users to play tricks
       with your local services.

       Accepting external URLs may also use other protocols than http:// or
       other common ones. Restrict what accept with CURLOPT_PROTOCOLS(3).

       User provided URLs can also be made to point to sites that redirect
       further on (possibly to other protocols too). Consider your
       CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION(3) and CURLOPT_REDIR_PROTOCOLS(3) settings.


PROTOCOLS

       All


EXAMPLE

       CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
       if(curl) {
         curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");

         curl_easy_perform(curl);
       }


AVAILABILITY

       POP3 and SMTP were added in 7.31.0


RETURN VALUE

       Returns CURLE_OK on success or CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY if there was
       insufficient heap space.

       Note that curl_easy_setopt(3) will not actually parse the given string
       so given a bad URL, it will not be detected until curl_easy_perform(3)
       or similar is called.


SEE ALSO

       CURLOPT_VERBOSE(3), CURLOPT_PROTOCOLS(3),  CURLOPT_FORBID_REUSE(3),
       CURLOPT_FRESH_CONNECT(3),  curl_easy_perform(3),
       CURLINFO_REDIRECT_URL(3), CURLOPT_PATH_AS_IS(3), CURLOPT_CURLU(3),

ibcurl 8.1.2                    April 26, 2023                  CURLOPT_URL(3)

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