curl_free(3)

curl_free3

Reclaim memory that has been obtained through a libcurl call

Usage

#include <curl/curl.h>
void curl_free(void *ptr);

Overview

curl_free reclaims memory that has been obtained through a libcurl call. Use curl_free(3) instead of free() to avoid anomalies that can result from differences in memory management between your application and libcurl.

Passing in a NULL pointer in ptr makes this function return immediately with no action.

Protocols

This functionality affects all supported protocols

Examples

int main(void)
{
  char *width = curl_getenv("COLUMNS");
  if(width) {
    /* it was set */
    curl_free(width);
  }
}

Return value

None

Releases

12 releases since Debian 3.1 (Sarge); the text changed 9 times.

  1. 3.1–5.0
  2. 6.0
  3. 7
  4. 8
  5. 9
  6. 10
  7. 11
  8. 12
  9. 13
  10. Arch

Availability

Added in curl 7.1

From curl 8.23.0-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.