How to make a PATCH request using curl

For more information about curl, checkout the “What is curl” article. This article will discuss how to interact with an API using PATCH requests through curl.

Make a simple PATCH request

The basic syntax for sending a PATCH request using curl is:

1curl -X PATCH https://example.com

The -X argument accepts an HTTP method for interacting with the server. For HTTP, valid values include: GET (default), POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.

NOTE: The -X flag is a shorthand for --request. Either can be used.

Make a PATCH request with data

Users can send data along with a PATCH request.

1curl -X PATCH -d "title=bar&body=foo" \
2	https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1

In the example above, a PATCH request is sent to the JSONPlaceholder API to update an existing post (1) with a title of bar and a body of foo.

The default Content-Type is application/x-www-form-urlencoded.

NOTE: The -d flag is a shorthand for --data. Either can be used.

Make a PATCH request with JSON body

Users may optionally send JSON data in their request payloads.

Making a PATCH request with JSON

1curl -X PATCH \
2	-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3	-d '{"title":"bar","body":"foo"}' \
4	https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1

In the example above, a PATCH request is sent to the JSONPlaceholder API to update an existing post (1) with a title of bar and a body of foo.

The -H flag accepts a Key: value string that represents a header. In the above case, it sets the content type: Content-Type: application/json.

NOTE: The -H flag is a shorthand for --header. Either can be used.

Making a PATCH request with a JSON file

In addition to text, the -d parameter accepts a file using the syntax @filename.

If a file is named post.json

1{ 
2	"title": "bar",
3	"body": "foo"
4}

then curl can pass on its contents:

1curl -X PATCH \
2	-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3	-d @post.json \
4	https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1