---
tags:
  - macOS
  - Tahoe
  - curl
  - networking
  - terminal
  - api
title: Making Network Requests with Curl on macOS Tahoe
---

# Making Network Requests with Curl on macOS Tahoe

`curl` (Client URL) is a command-line tool for transferring data to or from a server. On macOS Tahoe, it is pre-installed and essential for testing APIs, downloading files, and debugging network issues.

## Basic GET Requests

The simplest use of `curl` is to retrieve the content of a URL.

```zsh
curl https://www.example.com
```

This prints the HTML source of the page to your terminal.

## Downloading Files

To save the output to a file instead of printing it, use the `-O` (uppercase letter O) or `-o` (lowercase letter o) flags.

### Save with Original Filename (`-O`)
This saves the file using the name specified in the URL.

```zsh
curl -O https://example.com/image.png
```

### Save with Custom Filename (`-o`)
This allows you to specify the output filename.

```zsh
curl -o my_image.png https://example.com/image.png
```

## Inspecting Headers

To view the HTTP headers returned by a server without downloading the body content, use the `-I` (Head) flag. This is useful for checking server status codes or content types.

```zsh
curl -I https://www.google.com
```

**Output Example:**
```text
HTTP/2 200
content-type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
...
```

## Sending Data (POST Requests)

`curl` is widely used for interacting with REST APIs. You can send data using the `-d` flag, which defaults the request method to POST.

```zsh
curl -d "param1=value1&param2=value2" https://api.example.com/resource
```

### Sending JSON Data

When working with modern APIs, you often need to send JSON and set the `Content-Type` header.

```zsh
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"username":"tahoe_user","active":true}' \
     https://api.example.com/users
```

*   `-H`: Adds a custom header.
*   `-d`: Sends the data payload.

## Handling Redirects

By default, `curl` does not follow HTTP redirects (like 301 or 302). To follow redirects automatically, use the `-L` flag.

```zsh
curl -L http://google.com
```

## Verbose Mode

If a request is failing, use `-v` to see the complete handshake, headers sent, and headers received.

```zsh
curl -v https://example.com
```

For more networking tools, refer to Networking Commands on macOS Tahoe.