curl_multi_init(3)

curl_multi_init3

Create a multi handle

Usage

#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLM *curl_multi_init();

Overview

This function returns a pointer to a CURLM handle to be used as input to all the other multi-functions, sometimes referred to as a multi handle in some places in the documentation. This init call MUST have a corresponding call to curl_multi_cleanup(3) when the operation is complete.

By default, several caches are stored in and held by the multi handle: DNS cache, connection pool, TLS session ID cache and the TLS CA cert cache. All transfers using the same multi handle share these caches.

Protocols

This functionality affects all supported protocols

Examples

int main(void)
{
  /* init a multi stack */
  CURLM *multi = curl_multi_init();
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  CURL *curl2 = curl_easy_init();
  /* add individual transfers */
  curl_multi_add_handle(multi, curl);
  curl_multi_add_handle(multi, curl2);
}

Return value

If this function returns NULL, something went wrong and you cannot use the other curl functions.

Releases

12 releases since Debian 3.1 (Sarge); the text changed 8 times.

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

Availability

Added in curl 7.9.6

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