CURLOPT\_FILETIME(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT\_FILETIME(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

CURLOPT\_FILETIME - get the modification time of the remote resource

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_FILETIME, long gettime);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Pass a long. If it is 1, libcurl attempts to get the modification time of the remote document in this operation. This requires that the remote server sends the time or replies to a time querying command. The [*curl\_easy\_getinfo(3)*](/man/os/curl/curl_easy_getinfo.3) function with the [*CURLINFO\_FILETIME(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLINFO_FILETIME.3) argument can be used after a transfer to extract the received time (if any).

# [DEFAULT](#DEFAULT)

0

# [PROTOCOLS](#PROTOCOLS)

This functionality affects file, ftp, http and sftp

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

```
int main(void)
{


  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();


  if(curl) {


    CURLcode result;


    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com/path.html");


    /* Ask for filetime */


    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_FILETIME, 1L);


    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);


    if(result == CURLE_OK) {


      long filetime;


      result = curl_easy_getinfo(curl, CURLINFO_FILETIME, &filetime);


      if((result == CURLE_OK) && (filetime >= 0)) {


        time_t file_time = (time_t)filetime;


        printf("filetime: %s", ctime(&file_time));


      }


    }


    /* always cleanup */


    curl_easy_cleanup(curl);


  }
}
```

# [AVAILABILITY](#AVAILABILITY)

Added in curl 7.5

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

[*curl\_easy\_setopt(3)*](/man/os/curl/curl_easy_setopt.3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.

CURLE\_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see [*libcurl-errors(3)*](/man/os/curl/libcurl-errors.3).

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**CURLINFO\_FILETIME**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLINFO_FILETIME.3), [**curl\_easy\_getinfo**(3)](/man/os/curl/curl_easy_getinfo.3)

2026-10-19 libcurl

---

Document: CURLOPT_FILETIME(3) from curl 8.23.0-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/curl/curl.git
