CurlDotNet Cookbook

Welcome to the CurlDotNet Cookbook! This collection of practical recipes shows you how to accomplish common tasks using CurlDotNet.

What is CurlDotNet?

CurlDotNet is the pure .NET implementation of curl that allows you to execute curl commands directly in C# applications. Simply paste any curl command from documentation, Stack Overflow, or bash scripts, and it works immediately!

Installation

Install CurlDotNet from NuGet: CurlDotNet on NuGet

dotnet add package CurlDotNet

Or via Package Manager:

Install-Package CurlDotNet

Recipe Categories

🍳 Beginner Recipes

Perfect for getting started with CurlDotNet:

• Simple GET Request - Fetch data from an API
• Send JSON Data - POST JSON to an endpoint
• Handle Errors - Robust error handling
• Upload Files - Upload files to servers
• Download Files - Download and save files
• POST Forms - Submit form data
• Call APIs - Build API client applications

🥘 Intermediate Recipes (Coming Soon)

Take your skills to the next level:

• API Client Class - Build reusable API clients
• Retry Logic - Handle transient failures
• Progress Tracking - Monitor upload/download progress
• Session Cookies - Maintain session state
• Rate Limiting - Respect API limits
• File Management - Advanced file operations

🍱 Advanced Patterns (Coming Soon)

Master complex scenarios:

• Pagination - Handle paginated API responses
• Polling - Implement efficient polling
• Webhooks - Build webhook handlers
• Batch Processing - Process multiple requests efficiently

🌍 Real World Examples (Coming Soon)

Complete implementations for popular services:

• GitHub Integration
• Slack Notifications
• Weather API Client
• OAuth Flow Implementation
• Stripe Payments Integration

Quick Examples

Simple GET Request

using CurlDotNet;

var result = await Curl.ExecuteAsync("curl https://api.github.com");
Console.WriteLine(result.Body);

POST with JSON

using CurlDotNet;

var json = "{\"name\":\"John\",\"email\":\"john@example.com\"}";
var result = await Curl.ExecuteAsync($@"
    curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
      -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      -d '{json}'
");

if (result.IsSuccess)
{
    Console.WriteLine("User created successfully!");
}

Download a File

using CurlDotNet;

var result = await Curl.ExecuteAsync(@"
    curl -o downloaded.pdf https://example.com/file.pdf
");

if (result.IsSuccess)
{
    Console.WriteLine("File downloaded successfully!");
}

How to Use These Recipes

Each recipe in this cookbook:

1. Explains the problem it solves
2. Shows complete, working code you can copy and paste
3. Includes error handling and best practices
4. Provides variations for different scenarios
5. Links to related recipes for deeper learning

Recipe Structure

Every recipe follows this format:

• 🎯 What You’ll Build - Clear goal description
• 🥘 Ingredients - What you need (packages, time, prerequisites)
• 📖 Explanation - Understanding the concepts
• 🍳 The Recipe - Step-by-step implementation
• 🎨 Complete Examples - Full working programs
• 🐛 Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
• 🎓 Best Practices - Professional tips
• 🚀 Next Steps - Where to go from here

Finding the Right Recipe

By Task

• Fetching data? → Simple GET Request
• Sending data? → Send JSON Data
• Uploading files? → Upload Files
• Downloading files? → Download Files
• Submitting forms? → POST Forms
• Building an API client? → Call APIs
• Handling errors? → Handle Errors

By HTTP Method

• GET → Simple GET Request
• POST → Send JSON Data, POST Forms
• PUT/PATCH → Send JSON Data (includes PUT examples)
• DELETE → Call APIs (includes DELETE examples)

By Feature

• Authentication → Call APIs
• Headers → Most recipes include header examples
• Error Handling → Handle Errors
• File Operations → Upload Files, Download Files

Contributing Recipes

We welcome recipe contributions! If you have a useful pattern or example:

1. Fork the repository
2. Add your recipe following our format
3. Submit a pull request

Additional Resources

• Tutorials - Step-by-step learning path
• API Reference - Complete API documentation
• Getting Started Guide - Installation and setup
• Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions

Support

• Questions? Ask in GitHub Discussions
• Found a bug? Report it on GitHub Issues
• Need help? Check our Troubleshooting Guide

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Ready to cook? Start with a Simple GET Request →