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

# [NAME](#NAME)

CURLOPT\_NOBODY - do the download request without getting the body

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

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

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

A long parameter set to 1 tells libcurl to not include the body-part in the output when doing what would otherwise be a download. For HTTP(S), this makes libcurl do a HEAD request. For most other protocols it means not asking to transfer the body data.

For HTTP operations when [*CURLOPT\_NOBODY(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_NOBODY.3) has been set, disabling this option (with 0) makes it a GET again - only if the method is still set to be HEAD. The proper way to get back to a GET request is to set [*CURLOPT\_HTTPGET(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_HTTPGET.3) and for other methods, use the POST or UPLOAD options.

Enabling [*CURLOPT\_NOBODY(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_NOBODY.3) means asking for a download without a body.

If you do a transfer with HTTP that involves a method other than HEAD, you get a body (unless the resource and server sends a zero byte body for the specific URL you request).

# [DEFAULT](#DEFAULT)

0, the body is transferred

# [PROTOCOLS](#PROTOCOLS)

This functionality affects all supported protocols

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

```
int main(void)
{


  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();


  if(curl) {


    CURLcode result;


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


    /* get us the resource without a body - use HEAD */


    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_NOBODY, 1L);


    /* Perform the request */


    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);


    curl_easy_cleanup(curl);


  }
}
```

# [AVAILABILITY](#AVAILABILITY)

Added in curl 7.1

# [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\_HTTPGET**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_HTTPGET.3), [**CURLOPT\_MIMEPOST**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_MIMEPOST.3), [**CURLOPT\_POSTFIELDS**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS.3), [**CURLOPT\_REQUEST\_TARGET**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_REQUEST_TARGET.3), [**CURLOPT\_UPLOAD**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_UPLOAD.3)

2026-10-31 libcurl

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