cURL Converter

A fast, private cURL converter

Developers frequently encounter cURL commands in API documentation, tutorials, or when debugging network requests in the browser. Translating these command-line strings into application code manually is tedious and error-prone, especially when dealing with complex headers and nested JSON payloads.

This curl converter automates the process, allowing you to convert curl command strings into ready-to-use code snippets instantly. Because the conversion happens entirely within your web browser, your sensitive data—such as bearer tokens, API keys, and private payloads—never leaves your machine. You can safely paste commands containing production credentials without worrying about data leaks or server logs.

Supported output formats

The tool currently supports translating command-line requests into two of the most widely used programming environments:

JavaScript (fetch)
JavaScript developers often need to translate API examples into frontend or Node.js code. When you select the JavaScript option, the tool maps the cURL method, headers, and data arguments directly into a standard fetch() call. This makes converting curl to javascript a one-click process. It automatically structures your headers into a JavaScript object and ensures your JSON payload is properly formatted as a stringified body, ready to drop into an async/await function.

Python (requests)
Python developers rely heavily on the requests library for HTTP interactions. The tool parses the cURL syntax and generates clean Python code, automatically selecting the correct method (such as requests.get or requests.post) and structuring headers and data as Python dictionaries. Translating curl to python requests ensures you don't miss any subtle header configurations or misformat your authentication tokens.

Common use cases

Integrating third-party APIs
Most modern API documentation (like Stripe, Twilio, or GitHub) provides code examples primarily in cURL. While this is great for quick terminal testing, you eventually need that request in your application. Pasting the documentation's example into this tool gives you a perfect starting point for your codebase.

Replicating browser requests
When debugging a web application, a common workflow is to open your browser's developer tools, navigate to the Network tab, right-click a failing request, and select "Copy as cURL". You can paste that exact string into the converter to generate a script. This is incredibly useful for writing automated tests, scraping data, or isolating a bug outside of the complex browser environment.

Prototyping and testing
Many developers prefer to build and test their HTTP requests in the terminal first. Once the curl command returns the expected 200 OK response, you can bring it here to instantly generate the equivalent fetch or requests code, ensuring your app sends the exact same bytes as your successful terminal test.

How the conversion works

When you paste your input, the tool parses the string to extract the core components of an HTTP request:

• The URL: The destination endpoint of the request.
• The Method: Extracted from the -X or --request flag (e.g., GET, POST, PUT, DELETE). If omitted, it defaults to GET, or POST if data is provided.
• Headers: Extracted from every -H or --header flag. These are compiled into a dictionary or object.
• Data/Payload: Extracted from -d, --data, or --data-raw flags.

While the tool handles the vast majority of standard API requests, cURL is a massive utility with hundreds of complex flags (like --compressed, --resolve, or specific SSL certificate paths). If the parser encounters flags that do not map cleanly to standard fetch or requests configurations, it will focus on the core HTTP request and ignore those specific flags.

Any ignored arguments are conveniently listed beneath the generated code. This ensures you are aware of exactly what was left out, allowing you to manually configure advanced proxy or SSL settings in your application code if they are strictly required.

Helpful related tools

Working with APIs often involves more than just writing the request. Once you successfully make your request using the generated code, you might need to format the resulting data using a JSON Formatter to make it readable. If your request fails and you need to understand the response code you received, check our HTTP Status Codes reference. Finally, if you need to break down or modify the endpoint URL itself before converting, the URL Parser can help you extract and edit specific query parameters.