---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Short: v
Long: verbose
Mutexed: trace trace-ascii
Help: Make the operation more talkative
Category: important verbose global
Added: 4.0
Multi: boolean
Scope: global
See-also:
  - show-headers
  - silent
  - trace
  - trace-ascii
Example:
  - --verbose $URL
---

# `--verbose`

Make curl output verbose information during the operation. Useful for
debugging and seeing what's going on under the hood. Verbose output lines are
prefixed with letters:

## >

header sent by curl

## <

header received by curl

## }

data sent by curl

## {

data received by curl

## *

additional info provided by curl. Text that adds explanations what goes on and
about choices curl does.

##

If you only want HTTP headers in the output, --show-headers or --dump-header
might be more suitable options.

Since curl 8.10, mentioning this option several times in the same argument
increases the level of the trace output. However, as before, a single
--verbose or --no-verbose reverts any additions by previous `-vv` again. This
means that `-vv -v` is equivalent to a single -v. This avoids unwanted
verbosity when the option is mentioned in the command line *and* curl config
files.

Using it twice, e.g. `-vv`, outputs time (--trace-time) and transfer ids
(--trace-ids), as well as enabling tracing for all protocols (--trace-config
protocol).

Adding a third verbose outputs transfer content (--trace-ascii %) and enables
tracing of more components (--trace-config read,write,ssl).

A fourth time adds tracing of all network components. (--trace-config network).

Any addition of the verbose option after that has no effect.

If you think this option does not give you the right details, consider using
--trace or --trace-ascii instead. Or use it only once and use --trace-config
to trace the specific components you wish to see.

Note that verbose output of curl activities and network traffic might contain
sensitive data, including usernames, credentials or secret data content. Be
aware and be careful when sharing trace logs with others.

When the output contains protocol headers, those lines might include carriage
return (ASCII code 13) characters, even on platforms that otherwise normally
only use linefeed to signify line separations - as curl shows the exact
contents arriving from the server.
