curl

Command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs

77
Needs attention
Funding
Stable
Maintenance
Active
Contributors
Healthy
Bus Factor
High risk
Metrics last updated: 6 days ago (2026-02-07)

Maintainers

Daniel Stenberg
Daniel Stenberg
curl Creator and Lead Maintainer

Overview

curl is a command-line tool and library for transferring data with URLs. It supports various protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, SCP, SFTP, TFTP, DICT, TELNET, LDAP, and POP3.

Importance

  • Installed on over 10 billion devices
  • Default transfer tool in most Unix-like systems
  • Embedded in countless applications and devices
  • Foundation of many CI/CD pipelines

Key Features

  • Support for 28+ transfer protocols
  • SSL/TLS support
  • Cookie handling
  • Resume transfers
  • IPv6 support

Sustainability

While curl has an active maintainer (Daniel Stenberg), the project relies heavily on his continued involvement. The project needs more funding for sustainable development.

Dependencies

⬆️ Depends On (3)
OpenSSL 96
zlib 71
Linux Kernel 88
curl
system
⬇️ Used By (2)
Git 71
Homebrew 90

Dependency Chain

Upstream
OpenSSL → zlib → Linux Kernel →
curl
→ Git → Homebrew
Downstream

Impact Analysis

3 Direct Dependencies
2 Dependent Projects
🔗 Middleware project

⚠️ Impact Risk: Changes to curl could affect 2 downstream projects.

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