Do I need -X GET in cURL?

No. cURL defaults to GET — just curl URL works. -X GET is harmless but redundant. The exception: if you also pass -d (which implies POST), you'd need -X GET to force GET-with-body. But that's a weird pattern most servers reject anyway. Use -G --data-urlencode for query strings instead.

How do I send query strings with cURL?

Append them to the URL: curl 'https://api.com/search?q=hello&page=1' (quote the URL to prevent shell parsing of &). For values with special characters, use -G with --data-urlencode: curl -G https://api.com/search --data-urlencode 'q=hello world & stuff' — cURL URL-encodes safely.

What's the difference between -i and -I in cURL?

-i (lowercase) shows response headers AND body in the output of a GET. -I (uppercase) sends a HEAD request — only headers, no body. Critical to remember: -I changes the HTTP method, not just the output format. For a GET showing headers, use -i.

How do I send cookies with a GET request?

Use -b 'name=value' for inline cookies, or -b cookies.txt to load from a Netscape-format jar. Pair with -c cookies.txt to save received cookies for use in subsequent requests. Useful for login → access protected page flows.

Why doesn't cURL follow redirects by default?

Historical: cURL is a low-level tool that gives you the raw response. Following redirects is a higher-level behavior some users don't want (e.g., when testing redirect chains). Add -L to follow. See curl-follow-redirects guide for max-redirs and security details.

Can I GET binary data with cURL?

Yes — but don't print to terminal (control bytes will mangle your shell). Pipe to a file: curl https://x.com/file.bin > out.bin, or use -o filename. For binary downloads with the remote filename, -O is the canonical pattern. See curl-download-file.

How do I send multiple custom headers in cURL?

Repeat -H for each: curl -H 'Header1: value1' -H 'Header2: value2' https://api.example.com. cURL adds all of them to the request. To override a default header, set it to your value (e.g., -H 'User-Agent: MyApp/1.0'). To remove a default, set it empty: -H 'Accept:'.

How do I time a cURL GET request?

Use --write-out with timing variables: curl -s -o /dev/null -w 'DNS:%{time_namelookup}s Connect:%{time_connect}s TLS:%{time_appconnect}s Total:%{time_total}s\n' URL. The full variable list is in 'man curl' under --write-out. Useful for measuring real-world latency from your network.

cURL GET Request: Examples, Headers & Query Strings (2026)

Quick verdict: cURL defaults to GET — you do NOT need -X GET. Just curl URL sends a GET. Query strings go in the URL (URL-encode special chars). Add headers with -H. The single most common mistake: using -X GET with -d at the same time, which forces a GET-with-body (some servers reject this, others convert to POST silently).

The Basic GET

curl https://api.example.com/users

That is it. No flag needed — cURL's default method is GET. The response body prints to stdout.

To see the HTTP headers too:

curl -i https://api.example.com/users    # -i = include response headers

Just the headers, no body:

curl -I https://api.example.com/users    # -I = HEAD request (headers only)

Note: -I changes the method to HEAD, not GET. For a GET that only shows headers, combine -i with -o /dev/null for the body and --silent to hide progress.

Query Strings

Append params directly to the URL:

curl "https://api.example.com/search?q=hello&page=1&sort=date"

Always quote URLs with ? or & — bash interprets & as "run in background." Single or double quotes both work; double if you need shell variable expansion.

For dynamic values with special chars, use --data-urlencode with -G:

curl -G https://api.example.com/search \
     --data-urlencode "q=hello world & more" \
     --data-urlencode "page=1"

-G tells cURL "use -d data as query string instead of POST body." cURL URL-encodes each value safely.

Custom Headers

curl https://api.example.com/users \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGc..." \
     -H "User-Agent: MyApp/1.0"

Multiple -H flags add multiple headers. To remove a default header, send it empty:

curl -H "User-Agent:" https://api.example.com/users  # removes UA

Common GET headers worth knowing:

Accept: application/json — ask for JSON
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.9 — language preference (some sites return different content per language)
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br — compress (use --compressed shortcut)
If-None-Match: "etag-value" — conditional GET; server returns 304 if unchanged

Cookies

Send a cookie:

curl -b "session=abc123" https://example.com/dashboard

Read cookies from / write cookies to a Netscape-format cookie jar:

# Save cookies to a file (after login GET that sets cookies)
curl -c cookies.txt https://example.com/login-step1

# Reuse those cookies on a subsequent request
curl -b cookies.txt https://example.com/protected-page

For complex flows (login + scrape), the cookie jar handles session continuity across multiple GET calls.

Follow Redirects

By default cURL does NOT follow redirects — it shows the 301/302 response and stops. Add -L:

curl -L https://example.com/short-url

See cURL follow redirects for the full details on max redirects, redirect-method behavior, and security gotchas.

GET JSON Responses

Pipe to jq for pretty-printing and querying:

curl -s -H "Accept: application/json" https://api.github.com/users/torvalds | jq .

# Just the public_repos field
curl -s -H "Accept: application/json" https://api.github.com/users/torvalds | jq .public_repos

-s (silent) hides the progress meter so jq parses cleanly. Combine with -S (-sS) to still show errors.

GET Through a Proxy

curl --proxy http://USER:PASS@gw.spyderproxy.com:8000 \
     https://api.example.com/data

For geo-locked APIs or rate-limited endpoints, route GETs through residential proxies. The --proxy flag works for HTTPS targets too — cURL CONNECTs through the proxy to reach the target.

Multiple GETs with rotating IPs:

for i in {1..10}; do
  SID=$((RANDOM))
  curl --proxy "http://USER-session-$SID:PASS@gw.spyderproxy.com:8000" \
       https://target.com/page/$i
done

Each iteration uses a different sticky-session IP via the session-N token.

Output Timing and Stats

curl -s -o /dev/null \
     -w "HTTP %{http_code}\nDNS: %{time_namelookup}s\nConnect: %{time_connect}s\nTLS: %{time_appconnect}s\nTotal: %{time_total}s\n" \
     https://api.example.com

Useful for measuring real-world latency from your network. The %{var} tokens are listed in man curl under --write-out.

Common GET Errors

"curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format" — missing quotes around URL with special chars. Wrap in quotes.
"curl: (6) Could not resolve host" — DNS failure. Check the hostname, your network, or use --resolve to bypass DNS.
"curl: (7) Failed to connect" — host refused the connection. Firewall, wrong port, or service down.
"curl: (28) Operation timed out" — see cURL timeout fixes.
HTML returned instead of JSON — you got a Cloudflare challenge or a 403 page. Add a real User-Agent and route through a residential proxy.

When NOT to Use GET

RFC 7231 says GETs should be safe (no state changes) and idempotent (same result every time). Do not use GET for:

Form submissions that create/modify data — use POST
File uploads — use POST with multipart (see cURL POST guide)
Anything with secrets in the URL — query strings leak to logs, browser history, and referer headers