---
name: "CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "curl"
version: "8.23.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE"
---

# CURLINFO\_CONTENT\_TYPE(3)

Content-Type of response

## NAME

CURLINFO\_CONTENT\_TYPE - Content-Type of response

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_getinfo(CURL *handle, CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE, char **ct);
```

## DESCRIPTION

Pass a pointer to a char pointer to receive the content-type of the downloaded object. This is the value read from the Content-Type: field. If you get NULL, it means that the server did not send a valid Content-Type header or that the protocol used does not support this.

The **ct** pointer is NULL or points to private memory. You **must not** free it. It gets freed automatically when you call *[curl\_easy\_cleanup(3)](/curl_easy_cleanup/3.md)* on the corresponding curl handle.

The modern way to get this header from a response is to instead use the *[curl\_easy\_header(3)](/curl_easy_header/3.md)* function.

## PROTOCOLS

This functionality affects http only

## EXAMPLE

```
int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    CURLcode result;
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);
    if(result == CURLE_OK) {
      /* extract the content-type */
      char *ct = NULL;
      result = curl_easy_getinfo(curl, CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE, &ct);
      if(!result && ct) {
        printf("Content-Type: %s\n", ct);
      }
    }
    curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
  }
}
```

## AVAILABILITY

Added in curl 7.9.4

## RETURN VALUE

*[curl\_easy\_getinfo(3)](/curl_easy_getinfo/3.md)* returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.

CURLE\_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see *[libcurl-errors(3)](/libcurl-errors/3.md)*.

## SEE ALSO

[**CURLOPT\_HEADERFUNCTION**(3)](/CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION/3.md), [**curl\_easy\_getinfo**(3)](/curl_easy_getinfo/3.md), [**curl\_easy\_header**(3)](/curl_easy_header/3.md), [**curl\_easy\_setopt**(3)](/curl_easy_setopt/3.md)