Mastering curl: Essential Commands for API Testing and Automation

curl is a versatile command-line tool for sending HTTP requests, useful for testing APIs with GET, POST, and other methods.

Basic syntax: curl -H "Header" -d "Data" -X METHOD URL. Common parameters include -H (header), -d (data), and -X (request method such as POST, GET, DELETE, PUT, etc.).

Examples:

application/x-www-form-urlencoded :

curl -X POST -d 'name=allenjol' http://www.ayunw.cn:2000/api/user
curl http://www.ayunw.cn:2000/login -H "Content-Type:application/json" -X POST -d '{"user":"admin","passwd":"12345678"}'

application/json :

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"id":"001","name":"allenjol","phone":"15188888888"}' http://ayunw.cn:2000/api/json

multipart/form-data (file upload):

curl -F [email protected] -F name=allenjol http://www.ayunw.cn:2000/api/multipart

Submitting data from a file : store JSON in data.json and use -d @data.json with the appropriate Content-Type header.

GET with basic authentication :

curl -X GET -u username:password http://example.com/api

Simple GET and POST examples :

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/login?admin&passwd=12345678
curl -d "user=admin&passwd=12345678" http://127.0.0.1:8080/login