CURLOPT_URL(3)             curl_easy_setopt options             CURLOPT_URL(3)

NAME
       CURLOPT_URL - provide the URL to use in the request

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 doesn't validate the syntax or use this variable until the
       transfer is issued. Even if you set a crazy value here,
       _easy_setopt&section=3">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
       _DEFAULT_PROTOCOL&section=3">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
       _easy_perform&section=3">curl_easy_perform(3) or _multi_perform&section=3">curl_multi_perform(3) functions when you call
       them. Use _version_info&section=3">curl_version_info(3) for detailed information of which
       protocols are supported by the build of libcurl you are using.

       _PROTOCOLS&section=3">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 _URL&section=3">CURLOPT_URL(3) string will be ignored if _CURLU&section=3">CURLOPT_CURLU(3) is set.

       _URL&section=3">CURLOPT_URL(3) or _CURLU&section=3">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 _URL&section=3">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).

       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 isn't 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 very 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 _PROTOCOLS&section=3">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
       _FOLLOWLOCATION&section=3">CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION(3) and _REDIR_PROTOCOLS&section=3">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 _easy_setopt&section=3">curl_easy_setopt(3) won't actually parse the given string so
       given a bad URL, it will not be detected until _easy_perform&section=3">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),

libcurl 7.77.0                 December 12, 2020                CURLOPT_URL(3)