---
name: "CURLOPT_ABSTRACT_UNIX_SOCKET"
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/CURLOPT_ABSTRACT_UNIX_SOCKET"
---

# CURLOPT\_ABSTRACT\_UNIX\_SOCKET(3)

abstract Unix domain socket

## NAME

CURLOPT\_ABSTRACT\_UNIX\_SOCKET - abstract Unix domain socket

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_ABSTRACT_UNIX_SOCKET,
                          char *path);
```

## DESCRIPTION

Enables the use of an abstract Unix domain socket instead of establishing a TCP connection to a host. The parameter should be a char \* to a null-terminated string holding the path of the socket. The path is set to *path* prefixed by a null byte. This is the convention for abstract sockets, however it should be stressed that the path passed to this function should not contain a leading null byte.

On non-supporting platforms, the abstract address is interpreted as an empty string and fails gracefully, generating a runtime error.

This option shares the same semantics as *[CURLOPT\_UNIX\_SOCKET\_PATH(3)](/CURLOPT_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH/3.md)* in which documentation more details can be found. Internally, these two options share the same storage and therefore only one of them can be set per handle.

## DEFAULT

NULL

## PROTOCOLS

This functionality affects all supported protocols

## EXAMPLE

```
int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    CURLcode result;
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_ABSTRACT_UNIX_SOCKET, "/tmp/foo.sock");
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "http://localhost/");
    /* Perform the request */
    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);
    curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
  }
}
```

## AVAILABILITY

Added in curl 7.53.0

## RETURN VALUE

*[curl\_easy\_setopt(3)](/curl_easy_setopt/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\_UNIX\_SOCKET\_PATH**(3)](/CURLOPT_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH/3.md), [**unix**(7)](/unix/7.md)