CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH(3)

✨ CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH ✨

okay bestie, buckle up — this is a page from the libcurl manual (the 3 library functions section, iykyk) and it's all about the very specific mood of not trusting the server. 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH — literally just ignore the content length, bestie

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH,
                          long ignore);

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the tea 🍵 — if ignore is set to 1L, curl straight up ignores the Content-Length header in the HTTP response, and also ignores asking for it or relying on it for FTP transfers. like, it's not even invited to the group chat anymore. ✨

this is highkey useful for doing HTTP transfers with ancient web servers that report an incorrect content length for files over 2 gigabytes. those servers are giving 2011 energy ngl 😭. if you use this option, curl cannot accurately report progress, and it instead stops the download when the server ends the connection. so no cute little progress bar moment — the vibe is just "we'll know it's done when the connection dips." 👑

it's also useful with FTP when, for example, the file is growing while the transfer is in progress — bc that otherwise unconditionally causes libcurl to report an error, and nobody wants that kind of drama. 🙈

⚠️ only use this option if strictly necessary. fr fr. it's the emergency backup plan, not the main character of your codebase.

🎀 DEFAULT 🎀

0

like, off by default, slay.

🌈 PROTOCOLS 🌈

this functionality affects ftp and http 🫶

⭐ EXAMPLE ⭐

int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");

    /* we know the server is silly, ignore content-length */
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH, 1L);

    curl_easy_perform(curl);
  }
}

"we know the server is silly" — the comment ate and left no crumbs, honestly. 🔥

🧚 HISTORY 🧚

support for FTP was added in 7.46.0. periodt. 💅

💜 AVAILABILITY 💜

added in curl 7.14.1 — she's been iconic for a minute. 👑

🌸 RETURN VALUE 🌸

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

CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK — vibe check passed ✨ — and non-zero means an error occurred. see libcurl-errors(3) for the whole lore. 😭

🍓 SEE ALSO 🍓

• CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION(3)
• CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE(3)

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and that's the whole page bestie!! 💖✨ this one's from the libcurl manual, dated 2026-10-12 — go forth and ignore those content lengths responsibly, ily 🫶🎀