Convert cURL to Python (requests)

-H · Request headers

curl

curl https://api.example.com/items -H "Accept: application/json" -H "X-Request-Id: 42"

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

headers = {
    "Accept": "application/json",
    "X-Request-Id": "42",
}
…
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

--json · A JSON body

--json is curl shorthand for a body plus both Content-Type: application/json and Accept: application/json, so both headers appear.

curl

curl https://api.example.com/items --json '{"name":"widget","qty":2}'

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Accept": "application/json",
}
…
payload = {
    "name": "widget",
    "qty": 2
}
response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)

-d · A form body

Two -d flags join with &, any -d makes the request a POST, and curl labels the body application/x-www-form-urlencoded unless you set a Content-Type yourself.

curl

curl https://api.example.com/login -d "user=ada" -d "remember=1"

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
}
…
data = "user=ada&remember=1"
response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, data=data)

-G · Data sent as query parameters

-G moves the data into the URL and sends a GET with no body and no Content-Type, which is what curl puts on the wire.

curl

curl -G https://api.example.com/search --data-urlencode "q=café au lait"

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

url = "https://api.example.com/search?q=caf%C3%A9+au+lait"

-u · Basic authentication

-u becomes an Authorization: Basic header with the base64 of user:password. If the command also sets its own Authorization header, that header wins, as it does in curl.

curl

curl -u ada:s3cret https://api.example.com/me

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Basic YWRhOnMzY3JldA==",
}
…
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

-b · Cookies

curl

curl -b "session=abc123; theme=dark" https://api.example.com/me

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

headers = {
    "Cookie": "session=abc123; theme=dark",
}
…
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

-F · A multipart upload

curl

curl https://api.example.com/upload -F "title=Q3 report" -F "file=@report.pdf"

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

form_data = {
    "title": "Q3 report"
}
# open() in binary mode; requests streams the file for you and sets
# the multipart Content-Type with a fresh boundary.
files = {
    "file": (
        "report.pdf",
        open("report.pdf", "rb"),
        "application/octet-stream",
    ),
}
response = requests.post(url, data=form_data, files=files)

The converter also notes: a -F upload needs Content-Type: multipart/form-data with a boundary generated per request, so the target language sets that header itself.

-X · A different method

curl

curl -X DELETE https://api.example.com/items/7

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

response = requests.delete(url)

-I · A HEAD request

curl

curl -I https://api.example.com/health

Lines it adds to the Python requests code

response = requests.head(url)