CURLINFO_STARTTRANSFER_TIME(3)

okay so bestie, you're looking at the CURLINFO_STARTTRANSFER_TIME(3) page from the Library Functions Manual 💖 This one is literally about the time to first byte received, and it's lowkey iconic ✨

🎀 NAME 🎀

• CURLINFO_STARTTRANSFER_TIME — time to first byte received, periodt 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

First you include the header, then you call it like this, fr fr:

#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_getinfo(CURL *handle, CURLINFO_STARTTRANSFER_TIME,
                           double *timep);

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Pass a pointer to a double to receive the time, in seconds, it took from the start until the first byte is received by libcurl. This includes CURLINFO_PRETRANSFER_TIME(3) and also the time the server needs to calculate the result. the way that timing stacks up is wild 😭

When a redirect is followed, the time from each request is added together. no cap 🙈

See also the TIMES overview in the curl_easy_getinfo(3) man page. iykyk 👑

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🌈 PROTOCOLS 🌈

Vibe check: this functionality affects all supported protocols 🫶

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🧚 EXAMPLE 🧚

Here's the whole little main-character example, exactly as it is — don't let the C syntax scare you, bestie:

int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    CURLcode result;
    double start;
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);
    if(CURLE_OK == result) {
      result = curl_easy_getinfo(curl, CURLINFO_STARTTRANSFER_TIME, &start);
      if(CURLE_OK == result) {
        printf("Time: %.1f", start);
      }
    }
    /* always cleanup */
    curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
  }
}

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🌸 AVAILABILITY 🌸

Added in curl 7.9.2 🎀

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💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

curl_easy_getinfo(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error. 💖

CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see libcurl-errors(3). 🔥

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

also peep these, bestie 👀

• CURLINFO_STARTTRANSFER_TIME_T(3)
• CURLOPT_TIMEOUT(3)
• curl_easy_getinfo(3)
• curl_easy_setopt(3)

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mwah 💋 source/version: libcurl; date: 2026-10-12; footer label: CURLINFO_S...ANSFER_TIME(3). that's the whole page, bye bestie 🎀✨