CURLOPT_GSSAPI_DELEGATION(3)

💅 CURLOPT_GSSAPI_DELEGATION — like, the allowed GSS-API delegation one 🎀

Okay bestie, so this is a page from the libcurl manual (the Library Functions Manual, if we're being fancy ✨) and it's all about CURLOPT_GSSAPI_DELEGATION — which is, literally, the allowed GSS-API delegation setting. No cap. 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_GSSAPI_DELEGATION, long level);

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So you set that long parameter level, right? And here's the vibe check on what you can put in it 👇

• Set it to CURLGSSAPI_DELEGATION_FLAG and you get unconditional GSSAPI credential delegation. Like, no questions asked, delegation is ON. 💅
• Delegation is disabled by default — and it's been that way since 7.21.7, so don't come for me, that's just how it is. 🫶
• Set the parameter to CURLGSSAPI_DELEGATION_POLICY_FLAG and it'll only delegate if the OK-AS-DELEGATE flag is set in the service ticket — but only in case this feature is supported by the GSS-API implementation and the definition of GSS_C_DELEG_POLICY_FLAG was available at compile-time. Conditional queen behavior, honestly. 👑

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🎀 DEFAULT 🎀

CURLGSSAPI_DELEGATION_NONE

(the delegation stays home, bestie 😌)

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🌈 PROTOCOLS 🌈

This functionality affects http only. That's it. That's the whole list. 💀

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🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    CURLcode result;
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com/");
    /* delegate if okayed by policy */
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_GSSAPI_DELEGATION,
                     CURLGSSAPI_DELEGATION_POLICY_FLAG);
    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);
  }
}

Not me writing a whole main just to show off a flag 😭 — but like, look at it. It ate. 🍓

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🧚 HISTORY 🧚

Okay so there was a glow-up ✨: the CURLGSSAPI_DELEGATION_* macros became long types in 8.16.0. Prior to that version, a long cast was necessary when you passed them to curl_easy_setopt(3). So if you're on old curl, cast it or perish 🙈.

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⭐ AVAILABILITY ⭐

Added in curl 7.22.0. She's been around a minute, ngl. 💜

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👑 RETURN VALUE 👑

curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.

• CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK — slay. 🌸
• non-zero means an error occurred — and you can look it up in libcurl-errors(3).

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH(3)
• CURLOPT_PROXYAUTH(3)

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Lowkey a whole delegation policy discourse in one tiny manpage — read it, love it, set your flags responsibly, bestie. 💖

Alright that's the page! Signing off with a big kiss from the libcurl crew, dated 2026-10-12, and yes this was CURLOPT_GSSAPI_DELEGATION(3) the whole time — iykyk 🎀✨🫶