CURLMOPT\_CONTENT\_LENGTH\_PENALTY\_SIZE(3) Library Functions Manual CURLMOPT\_CONTENT\_LENGTH\_PENALTY\_SIZE(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

CURLMOPT\_CONTENT\_LENGTH\_PENALTY\_SIZE - size threshold for pipelining penalty

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLMcode curl_multi_setopt(CURLM *handle, CURLMOPT_CONTENT_LENGTH_PENALTY_SIZE,


                            long size);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

No function since pipelining was removed in 7.62.0.

Pass a long with a **size** in bytes. If a transfer in a pipeline is currently processing a request with a Content-Length larger than this [*CURLMOPT\_CONTENT\_LENGTH\_PENALTY\_SIZE(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLMOPT_CONTENT_LENGTH_PENALTY_SIZE.3), that pipeline is not considered for additional requests, even if it is shorter than [*CURLMOPT\_MAX\_PIPELINE\_LENGTH(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLMOPT_MAX_PIPELINE_LENGTH.3).

# [DEFAULT](#DEFAULT)

0, which means that the size penalization is inactive.

# [PROTOCOLS](#PROTOCOLS)

This functionality affects http only

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

```
int main(void)
{


  CURLM *m = curl_multi_init();


  long maxlength = 10000;


  curl_multi_setopt(m, CURLMOPT_CONTENT_LENGTH_PENALTY_SIZE, maxlength);
}
```

# [AVAILABILITY](#AVAILABILITY)

Added in curl 7.30.0

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

[*curl\_multi\_setopt(3)*](/man/os/curl/curl_multi_setopt.3) returns a CURLMcode indicating success or error.

CURLM\_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)

[**CURLMOPT\_CHUNK\_LENGTH\_PENALTY\_SIZE**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLMOPT_CHUNK_LENGTH_PENALTY_SIZE.3), [**CURLMOPT\_PIPELINING**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLMOPT_PIPELINING.3)

2026-10-31 libcurl

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Document: CURLMOPT_CONTENT_LENGTH_PENALTY_SIZE(3) from curl 8.23.0-r3 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/curl/curl.git