How to Retrieve Detailed cURL Request Info in PHP with curl_getinfo

Retrieving cURL request details with curl_getinfo() in PHP

The curl_getinfo() function returns an associative array that contains a wide range of metrics about a completed cURL transfer. By querying specific keys you can obtain the effective request URL, HTTP status code, timing information, and transferred byte counts.

Commonly used information keys

url – The final request URL after redirects ( CURLOPT_EFFECTIVE_URL).

http_code – HTTP response status code returned by the server ( CURLOPT_HTTP_CODE, also available as CURLOPT_RESPONSE_CODE from cURL 7.10.8).

total_time – Total transaction time in seconds (float) ( CURLOPT_TOTAL_TIME).

download_content_length – Number of bytes downloaded ( CURLOPT_CONTENT_LENGTH_DOWNLOAD).

upload_content_length – Number of bytes uploaded ( CURLOPT_CONTENT_LENGTH_UPLOAD).

Complete example

// Initialize a cURL session
$curl = curl_init();

// Set the target URL
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://www.example.com");

// Execute the request (true on success, false on failure)
$response = curl_exec($curl);

// Retrieve detailed information about the transfer
$info = curl_getinfo($curl);

// Display selected metrics
echo "Request URL: " . $info['url'] . "
";
echo "HTTP status code: " . $info['http_code'] . "
";
echo "Total time: " . $info['total_time'] . " seconds
";
echo "Download size: " . $info['download_content_length'] . " bytes
";
echo "Upload size: " . $info['upload_content_length'] . " bytes
";

// Close the cURL handle to free resources
curl_close($curl);

This script demonstrates the typical workflow: initialize the cURL handle, configure the request URL, execute the transfer, call curl_getinfo() to obtain performance and transfer metrics, output the values, and finally close the handle. Accessing these details is essential for debugging, performance monitoring, and building robust HTTP clients, API wrappers, or web crawlers in PHP.