CURLOPT_HT...R_DECODING(3)

💅 CURLOPT_HTTP_TRANSFER_DECODING(3) 💅

okay so bestie, this is a page from the Library Functions Manual, and it's all about CURLOPT_HTTP_TRANSFER_DECODING — the HTTP transfer decoding control. yes that's a mouthful, we're gonna get through it together 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

CURLOPT_HTTP_TRANSFER_DECODING — HTTP transfer decoding control

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_HTTP_TRANSFER_DECODING,
                         long enabled);

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so you pass a long in here and it tells libcurl how to act on transfer decoding. that's the whole vibe check:

• if you set it to zero, transfer decoding is disabled 🙈
• if you set it to 1, it's enabled — and yes, that's the default 💖

and like, lowkey the important bit: libcurl does chunked transfer decoding by default unless you set this option to zero. so if you never touch this, chunked decoding is happening. periodt ✨

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🎀 DEFAULT 🎀

1

(one. enabled. the icon it is 👑)

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🌈 PROTOCOLS 🌈

this functionality affects http only — that's it, that's the 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/");
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTP_TRANSFER_DECODING, 0L);
    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);
  }
}

not me setting it to 0L in the example — look at us turning transfer decoding off on purpose, main character energy fr fr 🔥

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🧚 AVAILABILITY 🧚

Added in curl 7.16.2 — a vintage. she's been around 💜

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💀 RETURN VALUE 💀

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

CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK 😌 — and non-zero means an error occurred 😭, see libcurl-errors(3) for the full tea.

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🍓 SEE ALSO 🍓

• CURLOPT_ACCEPT_ENCODING(3)
• CURLOPT_HTTP_CONTENT_DECODING(3)

go read those next bestie, iykyk 🦋

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mwah 💋 that's the whole page — brought to you by libcurl, dated 2026-10-12. go forth and decode your transfers responsibly ✨👑