cURL Import

LitePost can parse any cURL command and convert it into a fully populated request tab. This is useful when you copy a request from browser DevTools, a README, or a teammate's message and want to replay or modify it in LitePost.

Opening the Import Dialog

Open the cURL import modal in one of two ways:

• Click the cURL import button in the title bar (terminal icon).
• Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+I (macOS).

Importing a cURL Command

Paste or type a cURL command into the text area. LitePost parses the command as you type and shows a live preview below the input.

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tok_abc123" \
  -d '{"name": "Jane Doe", "email": "jane@example.com"}'

The preview displays:

• Method -- the resolved HTTP method (e.g. POST)
• URL -- the target URL
• Headers count -- how many headers were parsed
• Auth type -- detected auth (basic, bearer, or none)
• Body type -- the inferred content type
• Cookies count -- how many cookies were parsed
• Params count -- query parameters extracted from the URL

If the command is malformed or missing a URL, an error message appears instead of the preview. Fix the command and the preview updates automatically.

Click Import Request to create a new tab with all the parsed fields populated. Click Cancel to close the dialog without importing.

Supported cURL Features

The parser handles the following flags and formats:

Flag	Long form	Description
-X	--request	HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, etc.)
-H	--header	Request header ("Key: Value")
-d	--data, --data-raw, --data-binary, --data-ascii, --data-urlencode	Request body
-u	--user	Basic auth credentials (user:password)
-A	--user-agent	User-Agent header
-b	--cookie	Cookies ("name=value; name2=value2")
-F	--form, --form-string	Multipart form data ("field=value" or "file=@path")
-e	--referer	Referer header
-G	--get	Force GET method (appends -d data as query params)
-I	--head	Force HEAD method
	--compressed	Adds Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
	--url	Explicit URL (alternative to positional argument)

Flags that do not affect the HTTP request itself (-L, -k, -s, -v, -i, -o) are silently ignored.

Parsing Behavior

The parser handles several real-world cURL patterns:

• Quoted strings -- both single and double quotes are supported for header values and body content.
• Line continuations -- backslash-newline sequences (\ at end of line) are joined into a single command.
• Attached flags -- compact forms like -XPOST or -HAccept:application/json are expanded correctly.
• Long flag equals syntax -- --header="Key: Value" is equivalent to --header "Key: Value".
• Auth detection -- Authorization: Basic ... and Authorization: Bearer ... headers are detected and moved to the auth configuration instead of being listed as plain headers.
• Content type inference -- if no Content-Type header is present, the parser infers application/json for JSON bodies, application/x-www-form-urlencoded for key-value pairs, and text/plain otherwise.

Example

A cURL command copied from browser DevTools:

curl 'https://api.example.com/search?q=litepost' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Cookie: session=abc123; theme=dark' \
  --compressed

After import, the new tab contains:

• Method: GET
• URL: https://api.example.com/search?q=litepost
• Headers: Accept: application/json, Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
• Cookies: session=abc123, theme=dark
• Params: q=litepost