How to Execute cURL Commands in Python?

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cURL is a powerful command-line tool used for communicating with various network protocols, including HTTP, FTP, and more. Combining cURL with Python offers more flexibility and control, whether for automated testing, data collection, or web development. This article introduces various methods for executing cURL commands in Python.

cURL Basics

The structure of cURL commands is simple and intuitive, with common parameters such as URL, request method, and data. For example, to retrieve the content of a web page, you can use curl https://zguyun.com. Through this simple example, we can understand the basic usage of cURL.

Methods for Executing cURL Commands in Python

1.Using the os or subprocess Module

Below are simple example codes demonstrating how to use the os module and the subprocess module to execute cURL GET requests, with brief explanations for each line of code:

import subprocess
import os

# Using the subprocess module to execute cURL GET request
subprocess.run(['curl', '-X', 'GET', 'https://zguyun.com'])

# Using the os module to execute cURL GET request
os.system("curl https://zguyun.com")

Using the os or subprocess Module curl python

Executing cURL GET request using the subprocess module:

We use the subprocess.run() function to execute the cURL command.
The arguments passed to subprocess.run() is a list containing the cURL command and its parameters.
This line of code will execute the curl -X GET https://zguyun.com command in the command line, sending a GET request to https://zguyun.com.

Executing cURL GET request using the os module:

We use the os.system() function to execute the cURL command.
The argument passed to os.system() function is a string, which is the complete cURL command.
This line of code will also execute the curl https://zguyun.com command in the command line, sending a GET request to https://zguyun.com.

2.Using the requests Library

The requests library is an advanced tool in Python for handling HTTP requests. It provides a richer API and better exception handling mechanism, making HTTP communication more convenient. Sending cURL commands using requests library is as follows:

import requests

# Sending a GET request
response = requests.get("https://zguyun.com")
response.encoding = 'utf-8'
print(response.text)

# Sending a POST request
url = "https://example.com/post_endpoint"
data = {"key": "value"}  # Data for POST request
response = requests.post(url, data=data)
response.encoding = 'utf-8'
print(response.text)

# Setting headers and sending a GET request
url = "https://example.com/get_endpoint"
headers = {"token": "a9igh9382t209gj2904g-234gh42fvfw"}  # Setting headers
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
response.encoding = 'utf-8'
print(response.text)

3.Using the pycurl Library

The pycurl library is the Python binding for libcurl, providing similar functionality to the cURL command-line tool. By installing pycurl and using it, we can execute cURL commands in Python scripts.

Installation command:

pip install pycurl

Example usage of pycurl library:

import pycurl
from io import BytesIO

buffer = BytesIO()
c = pycurl.Curl()
c.setopt(c.URL, "https://zguyun.com")
c.setopt(c.WRITEDATA, buffer)
c.perform()
c.close()

body = buffer.getvalue()
print(body.decode('utf-8'))

Conclusion

Through this article, we have learned several methods for executing cURL commands in Python, including using the os or subprocess module, the requests library, and the pycurl library. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and we can choose the appropriate method based on specific requirements.

Learn more:

cURL Python