CURLOPT\_HTTP\_CONTENT\_DECODING(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT\_HTTP\_CONTENT\_DECODING(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

CURLOPT\_HTTP\_CONTENT\_DECODING - HTTP content decoding control

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_HTTP_CONTENT_DECODING,


                          long enabled);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Pass a long to tell libcurl how to act on content decoding. If set to zero, content decoding is disabled. If set to 1 it is enabled. libcurl has no default content decoding but requires you to use [*CURLOPT\_ACCEPT\_ENCODING(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_ACCEPT_ENCODING.3) for that.

# [DEFAULT](#DEFAULT)

1

# [PROTOCOLS](#PROTOCOLS)

This functionality affects http only

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

```
int main(void)
{


  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();


  if(curl) {


    CURLcode result;


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


    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTP_CONTENT_DECODING, 0L);


    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);


  }
}
```

# [AVAILABILITY](#AVAILABILITY)

Added in curl 7.16.2

# [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)

[**CURLOPT\_ACCEPT\_ENCODING**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_ACCEPT_ENCODING.3), [**CURLOPT\_DEBUGFUNCTION**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_DEBUGFUNCTION.3), [**CURLOPT\_STDERR**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_STDERR.3)

2026-10-19 libcurl

---

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