Quick Look at Using the Header Option with curl

When using curl for network communication, let’s briefly learn about how to set headers.

Using the Header Option with curl Command

To use header values in curl commands, set the header values after the -H or --header option as follows:

curl --header or -H "header option: header value"

The method is very simple as above. After the header option you want to use, pass the value together using a colon (:).

? What values can be sent with the header option?

Typically, the header option is used to transmit values like the following:

• User-Agent // Information on the client (browser or application)
• Authorization // Token and credentials information for authentication
• Content-Type // MIME type information of the data being transmitted
• Accept // MIME type information of the content that the client can receive
• X-Requested-With // Information to identify AJAX requests

In addition to these, other standard HTTP headers like Cache-Control, Connection, Accept-Encoding, etc. can also be included.

Examples of Sending Headers with curl

Let’s make a few examples to understand in more detail.

@ Sending Multiple Header Information
When sending more than one piece of header information, use -H repeatedly.


@ Sending Accept Type Information


@ Sending User-Agent Value


So far, we’ve briefly learned how to use curl.