curl/docs/cmdline-opts/user-agent.md

---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Short: A
Long: user-agent
Arg: <name>
Help: Send User-Agent <name> to server
Protocols: HTTP
Category: important http
Added: 4.5.1
Multi: single
See-also:
  - header
  - proxy-header
Example:
  - -A "Agent 007" $URL
---

# `--user-agent`

Specify the User-Agent string to send to the HTTP server. To encode blanks in
the string, surround the string with single quote marks. This header can also
be set with the --header or the --proxy-header options.

If you give an empty argument to --user-agent (""), it removes the header
completely from the request. If you prefer a blank header, you can set it to a
single space (" ").
docs/cmdline: change to .md for cmdline docs - switch all invidual files documenting command line options into .md, as the documentation is now markdown-looking. - made the parser treat 4-space indents as quotes - switch to building the curl.1 manpage using the "mainpage.idx" file, which lists the files to include to generate it, instead of using the previous page-footer/headers. Also, those files are now also .md ones, using the same format. I gave them underscore prefixes to make them sort separately: _NAME.md, _SYNOPSIS.md, _DESCRIPTION.md, _URL.md, _GLOBBING.md, _VARIABLES.md, _OUTPUT.md, _PROTOCOLS.md, _PROGRESS.md, _VERSION.md, _OPTIONS.md, _FILES.md, _ENVIRONMENT.md, _PROXYPREFIX.md, _EXITCODES.md, _BUGS.md, _AUTHORS.md, _WWW.md, _SEEALSO.md - updated test cases accordingly Closes #12751 2024-01-21 06:18:43 +08:00			`---`
copyright: update all copyright lines and remove year ranges - they are mostly pointless in all major jurisdictions - many big corporations and projects already don't use them - saves us from pointless churn - git keeps history for us - the year range is kept in COPYING checksrc is updated to allow non-year using copyright statements Closes #10205 2023-01-02 20:51:48 +08:00			`c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.`
docs/cmdline-opts: add copyright and license identifier to each file gen.pl now insists on C: and SPDX-License-Identifier: fields to be present in all files. Closes #9002 2022-06-14 06:12:03 +08:00			`SPDX-License-Identifier: curl`
cmdline-docs: more options converted over 2016-11-16 06:44:58 +08:00			`Short: A`
			`Long: user-agent`
			`Arg: <name>`
			`Help: Send User-Agent <name> to server`
			`Protocols: HTTP`
docs: add categories to all cmdline opts Adapted gen.pl with 'listcats' This commit is a part of "--help me if you can" Closes #5680 2020-07-13 20:15:04 +08:00			`Category: important http`
cmdline-opts: made the 'Added:' field mandatory Since "too old" versions are no longer included in the generated man page, this field is now mandatory so that it won't be forgotten and then not included in the documentation. Closes #7786 2021-09-28 17:50:07 +08:00			`Added: 4.5.1`
cmdline/docs: add a required 'multi' keyword for each option The keyword specifies how option works when specified multiple times: - single: the last provided value replaces the earlier ones - append: it supports being provided multiple times - boolean: on/off values - mutex: flag-like option that disable anoter flag The 'gen.pl' script then outputs the proper and unified language for each option's multi-use behavior in the generated man page. The multi: header is requires in each .d file and will cause build error if missing or set to an unknown value. Closes #9759 2022-10-18 16:39:43 +08:00			`Multi: single`
docs/cmdline: change to .md for cmdline docs - switch all invidual files documenting command line options into .md, as the documentation is now markdown-looking. - made the parser treat 4-space indents as quotes - switch to building the curl.1 manpage using the "mainpage.idx" file, which lists the files to include to generate it, instead of using the previous page-footer/headers. Also, those files are now also .md ones, using the same format. I gave them underscore prefixes to make them sort separately: _NAME.md, _SYNOPSIS.md, _DESCRIPTION.md, _URL.md, _GLOBBING.md, _VARIABLES.md, _OUTPUT.md, _PROTOCOLS.md, _PROGRESS.md, _VERSION.md, _OPTIONS.md, _FILES.md, _ENVIRONMENT.md, _PROXYPREFIX.md, _EXITCODES.md, _BUGS.md, _AUTHORS.md, _WWW.md, _SEEALSO.md - updated test cases accordingly Closes #12751 2024-01-21 06:18:43 +08:00			`See-also:`
			`- header`
			`- proxy-header`
			`Example:`
			`- -A "Agent 007" $URL`
cmdline-docs: more options converted over 2016-11-16 06:44:58 +08:00			`---`
docs/cmdline: change to .md for cmdline docs - switch all invidual files documenting command line options into .md, as the documentation is now markdown-looking. - made the parser treat 4-space indents as quotes - switch to building the curl.1 manpage using the "mainpage.idx" file, which lists the files to include to generate it, instead of using the previous page-footer/headers. Also, those files are now also .md ones, using the same format. I gave them underscore prefixes to make them sort separately: _NAME.md, _SYNOPSIS.md, _DESCRIPTION.md, _URL.md, _GLOBBING.md, _VARIABLES.md, _OUTPUT.md, _PROTOCOLS.md, _PROGRESS.md, _VERSION.md, _OPTIONS.md, _FILES.md, _ENVIRONMENT.md, _PROXYPREFIX.md, _EXITCODES.md, _BUGS.md, _AUTHORS.md, _WWW.md, _SEEALSO.md - updated test cases accordingly Closes #12751 2024-01-21 06:18:43 +08:00
			# `--user-agent`

cmdline-docs: more options converted over 2016-11-16 06:44:58 +08:00			`Specify the User-Agent string to send to the HTTP server. To encode blanks in`
user-agent.d:: mention --proxy-header as well Bug: https://github.com/curl/curl/issues/2381 2018-03-16 06:52:43 +08:00			`the string, surround the string with single quote marks. This header can also`
			`be set with the --header or the --proxy-header options.`
cmdline-docs: more options converted over 2016-11-16 06:44:58 +08:00
cmdline-docs: use present tense, not future + some smaller cleanups Closes #11821 2023-09-08 20:32:29 +08:00			`If you give an empty argument to --user-agent (""), it removes the header`
user-agent.d: spell out what happens given a blank argument Closes #5525 2020-06-05 20:10:52 +08:00			`completely from the request. If you prefer a blank header, you can set it to a`
			`single space (" ").`