Curl Follow Redirect Example

The command

curl -L https://httpbin.org/redirect/2

What the flags do

Flag	What it does
`-L`	Follow `Location` headers. Long form: `--location`.
`--max-redirs N`	Give up after N redirects, to stop loops.
`-I`	With `-L`, print the headers of each hop.
`--post301 / --post302 / --post303`	Keep POST as POST after that status code.
`--location-trusted`	Also send credentials to redirect targets on other hosts.

Seeing the chain

To understand a redirect, look at it before following it. -I shows the status and Location of the first response; adding -L prints every hop. -w can report where you ended up and how many redirects it took.

curl -sIL http://example.com/old | grep -i -E "^(HTTP|location)"

curl -sL -o /dev/null \
  -w "final: %{url_effective}\nhops:  %{num_redirects}\n" https://httpbin.org/redirect/3

What happens to the method

After a 301, 302 or 303, curl re-sends a POST as a GET with no body, the same as browsers do. 307 and 308 exist to say "repeat exactly", and curl preserves the method and body for those. So a POST that mysteriously arrives as a GET is nearly always a 301 or 302 in front of the endpoint, commonly an http to https upgrade or a missing trailing slash. Fix the URL rather than fighting the redirect.

If you truly need the POST repeated, --post301 and --post302 request that. Do not reach for -X POST: it forces the method on every hop, including a 303 that is specifically telling you to GET the result.

curl -L -d "a=1" http://example.com/api/items        # POST, then GET after a 301
curl -L --post301 --post302 -d "a=1" http://example.com/api/items

Common mistakes

Credentials stop at the first foreign host. -u and the Authorization header are not forwarded to a different hostname unless you add --location-trusted.
Headers given with -H are forwarded to every hop. Do not put secrets in custom headers on URLs you do not control.
JavaScript and meta-refresh redirects are invisible to curl. It only follows HTTP Location headers.

Related curl examples

Curl HEAD Request Example

HEAD asks for the headers a GET would return and nothing else.

Curl GET Request Example

GET is what curl does when you give it nothing but a URL.

Curl Download File Example

Curl prints what it downloads to the terminal unless told to save it.

Curl Send Cookies Example

Curl ignores cookies unless told otherwise.

301 Moved Permanently

The permanent redirect, and what it does to the request method.

302 Found

The temporary redirect most servers send.

All Curl Examples

49 worked examples, grouped by what you are trying to do.

More under Network behaviour

References

curl man page: -L — Following Location headers, and what happens to the method.
MDN: Redirections — What each 3xx status code asks the client to do.

These links leave api-tester.com, which is independent of the projects they point to.

FAQ

How do I make curl follow redirects?

Add the -L flag. Curl then requests the URL in each Location header until it reaches a non-redirect response.

Why does my POST become a GET after a redirect?

For 301, 302 and 303 responses, curl changes POST to GET as browsers do. Request the final URL directly, or use --post301 and --post302 to keep the method.

How do I see where a URL redirects to?

Use curl -sIL URL to print the headers of every hop, or -w "%{url_effective}" to print the final URL.