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curl_easy_header(3)	    Library Functions Manual	     curl_easy_header(3)

NAME
     curl_easy_header - get an HTTP header

SYNOPSIS
     #include <curl/curl.h>

     CURLHcode curl_easy_header(CURL *easy,
				const char *name,
				size_t nameindex,
				unsigned int origin,
				int request,
				struct curl_header **hout);

DESCRIPTION
     curl_easy_header(3)  returns  a  pointer  to a "curl_header" struct in hout
     with data for the HTTP response header name. The case insensitive null-ter-
     minated header name should be specified without colon.

     nameindex 0 means asking for the first instance of the header. If	the  re-
     turned  header struct has amount set larger than 1, it means there are more
     instances of the same header name available to get. Asking for  a	too  big
     index makes CURLHE_BADINDEX get returned.

     The origin argument is for specifying which headers to receive, as a single
     HTTP  transfer might provide headers from several different places and they
     may then have different importance to the user and headers using  the  same
     name  might  be  used.  The origin is a bitmask for what header sources you
     want. See the descriptions below.

     The request argument tells libcurl from  which  request  you  want  headers
     from. A single transfer might consist of a series of HTTP requests and this
     argument  lets you specify which particular individual request you want the
     headers from. 0 being the first request and then the number  increases  for
     further redirects or when multi-state authentication is used. Passing in -1
     is a shortcut to "the last" request in the series, independently of the ac-
     tual amount of requests used.

     libcurl stores and provides the actually used "correct" headers. If for ex-
     ample  two  headers  with the same name arrive and the latter overrides the
     former, then only the latter is provided. If the first header survives  the
     second,  then only the first one is provided. An application using this API
     does not have to bother about multiple headers used wrongly.

     The memory for the returned struct is associated with the easy  handle  and
     subsequent calls to curl_easy_header(3) clobber the struct used in the pre-
     vious  calls  for	the  same easy handle. The application needs to copy the
     data if it wants to keep it around. The memory used  for  the  struct  gets
     freed with calling curl_easy_cleanup(3) of the easy handle.

     The  first  line  in  an HTTP response is called the status line. It is not
     considered a header by this function. Headers are the "name:  value"  lines
     following the status.

     This  function  can  be used before (all) headers have been received and is
     fine to call from within libcurl callbacks. It returns  the  state  of  the
     headers at the time it is called.

The header struct
     struct curl_header {
       char *name;
       char *value;
       size_t amount;
       size_t index;
       unsigned int origin;
       void *anchor;
     };

     The data name field points to, is the same as the requested name, but might
     have a different case.

     The data value field points to, comes exactly as delivered over the network
     but  with	leading  and  trailing whitespace and newlines stripped off. The
     value data is null-terminated. For legacy HTTP/1 "folded headers", this API
     provides the full single value in an unfolded manner with a  single  white-
     space between the lines.

     amount  is  how  many headers using this name that exist, within the origin
     and request scope asked for.

     index is the zero based entry number of this particular  header,  which  in
     case  this  header  was  used  more than once in the requested scope can be
     larger than 0 but is always less than amount.

     The origin field in the "curl_header" struct has one  of  the  origin  bits
     set, indicating where from the header originates. At the time of this writ-
     ing,  there are 5 bits with defined use. The undocumented 27 remaining bits
     are reserved for future use and must not be assumed to have any  particular
     value.

     anchor is a private handle used by libcurl internals. Do not modify.

ORIGINS
     CURLH_HEADER
	    The header arrived as a header from the server.

     CURLH_TRAILER
	    The  header  arrived  as  a trailer. A header that arrives after the
	    body.

     CURLH_CONNECT
	    The header arrived in a CONNECT response. A CONNECT request is being
	    done to setup a transfer "through" an HTTP(S) proxy.

     CURLH_1XX
	    The header arrived in an HTTP 1xx response. A  1xx	response  is  an
	    "intermediate"  response  that  might  happen  before the "real" re-
	    sponse.

     CURLH_PSEUDO
	    The header is an HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 pseudo header

PROTOCOLS
     This functionality affects http only

EXAMPLE
     int main(void)
     {
       struct curl_header *type;
       CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
       if(curl) {
	 CURLHcode h;
	 curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
	 curl_easy_perform(curl);
	 h = curl_easy_header(curl, "Content-Type", 0, CURLH_HEADER, -1, &type);
	 curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
       }
     }

AVAILABILITY
     Added in curl 7.83.0

RETURN VALUE
     This function returns a CURLHcode indicating success  or  error.  CURLHE_OK
     (0)  means  everything  was  OK,  non-zero  means	an  error  occurred, see
     libcurl-errors(3).

SEE ALSO
     CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE(3),			      CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION(3),
     curl_easy_nextheader(3), curl_easy_perform(3), libcurl-errors(3)

libcurl 			   2026-06-11		     curl_easy_header(3)

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