How to Convert cURL to Code: Step-by-Step Tutorial

By Bill Crawford · Published March 3, 2026 · 7 min read  ·  Last updated March 03, 2026

This tutorial walks through four practical examples of converting cURL commands into working code, from a simple GET request to authenticated requests with JSON bodies. Each example shows what to paste, what to expect, and what the output looks like.

Step 1: Convert a Simple GET Request

Start with the most basic case — a GET request with a query parameter and an Accept header:

curl https://api.example.com/v1/users?limit=10 -H "Accept: application/json"

Paste this into the converter. You should see:

1. The Request Model tab shows method GET, the query parameter limit=10 extracted separately, and the Accept header.
2. The fetch tab shows a clean fetch() call with the headers object.
3. The Python tab shows requests.request("GET", url, headers=headers).

This is the simplest conversion — no body, no auth, just URL + headers.

Step 2: Convert a JSON POST Request

Now try a POST request with a JSON body and a bearer token:

curl -X POST "https://api.example.com/v1/users" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456" \
  --data-raw '{"name":"Bill","role":"admin"}'

Key things to observe:

• The parser detects the JSON content type and parses the body into a structured object
• The Authorization header value is masked by default — you will see <REDACTED> in the output
• In the Python output, the body uses json=payload instead of data=, because JSON was detected
• In the fetch output, the body is wrapped in JSON.stringify()

Toggle Mask Secrets off to see the real token value in the output.

Step 3: Convert a Form POST with Multiple -d Flags

This example uses form-urlencoded data with separate -d flags for each field:

curl "https://api.example.com/login" -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "username=bill" -d "password=supersecret"

What the converter does:

• Detects the form content type and combines the two -d flags into username=bill&password=supersecret
• Shows a warning: "Multiple -d flags detected; concatenated with &"
• Masks the password value in the output (since "password=" is a recognized secret pattern)
• In Python, uses data= instead of json=

Step 4: Convert a Request with Basic Auth and Options

This example combines basic authentication, redirect following, and insecure TLS:

curl -L -k -u user:pass https://example.com/private -H "Accept: */*"

Check the Request Model tab to verify:

• auth.type is "basic" with the username and password extracted
• options.followRedirects is true (from -L)
• options.insecureTLS is true (from -k)

Each language handles these differently:

• Python: Uses auth=(user, pass) and verify=False
• Go: Uses req.SetBasicAuth()
• PHP: Uses CURLOPT_USERPWD and CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION

Using the Toggle Options

Error Handling

Turn on the Error Handling toggle to wrap the generated code in try/catch blocks (or language-appropriate error handling). This is recommended when generating code for production use.

Pretty JSON

When enabled, JSON bodies in the output are formatted with indentation. When off, they appear as compact single-line strings.

Indent Size

Choose between 2-space and 4-space indentation to match your project's style.

Using the Extra Copy Buttons

Below the output, four utility buttons let you copy specific parts:

• Copy URL: Just the URL from the parsed command
• Copy Headers JSON: The headers as a JSON object — useful for pasting into Postman or other tools
• Copy Body: Just the request body
• Copy Normalized cURL: A cleaned-up version of your cURL command with sorted headers and consistent formatting

Exporting to Postman

Select the Postman tab to generate a Postman Collection v2.1 JSON file. Copy the output, save it as a .json file, and import it into Postman using File → Import. The collection includes the method, URL, headers, and body from your cURL command.