Agent skills
curl-command-generator

Agent skill

curl-command-generator

Generates ready-to-run cURL commands from Express, Next.js, Fastify, or other API routes. Creates copy-paste commands with proper headers, authentication, and request bodies. Use when users request "generate curl commands", "curl examples", "api curl", or "command line api testing".

View SKILL.md on GitHub Repository

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npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/data/curl-command-generator

SKILL.md

cURL Command Generator

Generate ready-to-run cURL commands for quick API testing from the command line.

Core Workflow

Scan routes: Find all API route definitions
Extract metadata: Methods, paths, params, bodies
Generate commands: Create cURL commands with flags
Add authentication: Bearer, Basic, API Key headers
Include examples: Request bodies with sample data
Output options: Markdown, shell script, or plain text

Basic cURL Syntax

bash

# GET request
curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users"

# POST with JSON body
curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/users" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "John", "email": "john@example.com"}'

# With authentication
curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# With query parameters
curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users?page=1&limit=10"

# Show response headers
curl -i -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users"

# Verbose output
curl -v -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users"

Generator Script

typescript

// scripts/generate-curl.ts
import * as fs from "fs";

interface RouteInfo {
  method: string;
  path: string;
  name: string;
  description?: string;
  body?: object;
  queryParams?: { name: string; value: string }[];
  auth?: boolean;
}

interface CurlOptions {
  baseUrl: string;
  authHeader?: string;
  verbose?: boolean;
  showHeaders?: boolean;
  format?: "markdown" | "shell" | "plain";
}

function generateCurlCommand(route: RouteInfo, options: CurlOptions): string {
  const parts: string[] = ["curl"];

  // Add flags
  if (options.verbose) {
    parts.push("-v");
  }
  if (options.showHeaders) {
    parts.push("-i");
  }

  // Method
  parts.push(`-X ${route.method}`);

  // URL with query params
  let url = `${options.baseUrl}${route.path}`;

  // Replace path params with placeholders
  url = url.replace(/:(\w+)/g, "{$1}");

  // Add query params
  if (route.queryParams?.length) {
    const queryString = route.queryParams
      .map((p) => `${p.name}=${p.value}`)
      .join("&");
    url += `?${queryString}`;
  }

  parts.push(`"${url}"`);

  // Headers
  if (["POST", "PUT", "PATCH"].includes(route.method)) {
    parts.push('-H "Content-Type: application/json"');
  }

  if (route.auth && options.authHeader) {
    parts.push(`-H "${options.authHeader}"`);
  }

  // Request body
  if (route.body && ["POST", "PUT", "PATCH"].includes(route.method)) {
    const bodyJson = JSON.stringify(route.body);
    parts.push(`-d '${bodyJson}'`);
  }

  return parts.join(" \\\n  ");
}

function generateCurlCommands(
  routes: RouteInfo[],
  options: CurlOptions
): string {
  const lines: string[] = [];

  if (options.format === "markdown") {
    lines.push("# API cURL Commands");
    lines.push("");
    lines.push(`Base URL: \`${options.baseUrl}\``);
    lines.push("");
  } else if (options.format === "shell") {
    lines.push("#!/bin/bash");
    lines.push("");
    lines.push(`BASE_URL="${options.baseUrl}"`);
    lines.push('AUTH_TOKEN="${AUTH_TOKEN:-your-token-here}"');
    lines.push("");
  }

  // Group by resource
  const groupedRoutes = groupRoutesByResource(routes);

  for (const [resource, resourceRoutes] of Object.entries(groupedRoutes)) {
    if (options.format === "markdown") {
      lines.push(`## ${capitalize(resource)}`);
      lines.push("");
    } else if (options.format === "shell") {
      lines.push(`# ${capitalize(resource)}`);
      lines.push("");
    }

    for (const route of resourceRoutes) {
      if (options.format === "markdown") {
        lines.push(`### ${route.name}`);
        if (route.description) {
          lines.push(route.description);
        }
        lines.push("");
        lines.push("```bash");
      } else {
        lines.push(`# ${route.name}`);
      }

      lines.push(generateCurlCommand(route, options));

      if (options.format === "markdown") {
        lines.push("```");
      }
      lines.push("");
    }
  }

  return lines.join("\n");
}

function groupRoutesByResource(
  routes: RouteInfo[]
): Record<string, RouteInfo[]> {
  const groups: Record<string, RouteInfo[]> = {};

  for (const route of routes) {
    const parts = route.path.split("/").filter(Boolean);
    const resource = parts[0] || "api";

    if (!groups[resource]) {
      groups[resource] = [];
    }
    groups[resource].push(route);
  }

  return groups;
}

function capitalize(str: string): string {
  return str.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + str.slice(1);
}

Complete Example Output (Markdown)

markdown

# API cURL Commands

Base URL: `http://localhost:3000/api`

## Authentication

### Login

```bash
curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/auth/login" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "user@example.com", "password": "password123"}'

Register

bash

curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/auth/register" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "New User", "email": "new@example.com", "password": "securepass123"}'

Users

List Users

bash

curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users?page=1&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Get User by ID

bash

curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users/{id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Create User

bash

curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/users" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com", "role": "user"}'

Update User

bash

curl -X PUT "http://localhost:3000/api/users/{id}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"name": "John Updated", "email": "john.updated@example.com"}'

Delete User

bash

curl -X DELETE "http://localhost:3000/api/users/{id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"


## Shell Script Output

```bash
#!/bin/bash
# api-commands.sh

BASE_URL="${BASE_URL:-http://localhost:3000/api}"
AUTH_TOKEN="${AUTH_TOKEN:-your-token-here}"

# Authentication

# Login
login() {
  curl -X POST "${BASE_URL}/auth/login" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"email\": \"$1\", \"password\": \"$2\"}"
}

# Users

# List Users
list_users() {
  local page="${1:-1}"
  local limit="${2:-10}"
  curl -X GET "${BASE_URL}/users?page=${page}&limit=${limit}" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${AUTH_TOKEN}"
}

# Get User by ID
get_user() {
  curl -X GET "${BASE_URL}/users/$1" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${AUTH_TOKEN}"
}

# Create User
create_user() {
  curl -X POST "${BASE_URL}/users" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${AUTH_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$1"
}

# Update User
update_user() {
  curl -X PUT "${BASE_URL}/users/$1" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${AUTH_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$2"
}

# Delete User
delete_user() {
  curl -X DELETE "${BASE_URL}/users/$1" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${AUTH_TOKEN}"
}

# Usage examples:
# ./api-commands.sh
# login user@example.com password123
# list_users 1 10
# get_user abc123
# create_user '{"name": "John", "email": "john@example.com"}'
# update_user abc123 '{"name": "John Updated"}'
# delete_user abc123

# Execute command if provided
if [ -n "$1" ]; then
  "$@"
fi

Advanced cURL Flags

bash

# Common useful flags
curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
  -i                              # Include response headers
  -v                              # Verbose output
  -s                              # Silent mode (no progress)
  -S                              # Show errors in silent mode
  -o response.json                # Save response to file
  -w "\n%{http_code}\n"           # Print status code
  --connect-timeout 5             # Connection timeout
  --max-time 30                   # Max request time
  -L                              # Follow redirects
  -k                              # Skip SSL verification (dev only)

# Pretty print JSON response
curl -s "http://localhost:3000/api/users" | jq .

# Save cookies and use them
curl -c cookies.txt -b cookies.txt "http://localhost:3000/api/auth/login"

# Upload file
curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/upload" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
  -F "file=@./document.pdf"

# Form data
curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/form" \
  -d "name=John&email=john@example.com"

# With timing info
curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/api/users" \
  -w "\nDNS: %{time_namelookup}s\nConnect: %{time_connect}s\nTotal: %{time_total}s\n"

Environment-Specific Commands

bash

# .env.curl
# Development
DEV_URL="http://localhost:3000/api"
DEV_TOKEN=""

# Staging
STAGING_URL="https://staging-api.example.com"
STAGING_TOKEN=""

# Production
PROD_URL="https://api.example.com"
PROD_TOKEN=""

bash

#!/bin/bash
# curl-env.sh

set -a
source .env.curl
set +a

ENV="${1:-dev}"

case $ENV in
  dev)
    BASE_URL="$DEV_URL"
    AUTH_TOKEN="$DEV_TOKEN"
    ;;
  staging)
    BASE_URL="$STAGING_URL"
    AUTH_TOKEN="$STAGING_TOKEN"
    ;;
  prod)
    BASE_URL="$PROD_URL"
    AUTH_TOKEN="$PROD_TOKEN"
    ;;
esac

export BASE_URL AUTH_TOKEN
echo "Using $ENV environment: $BASE_URL"

CLI Script

typescript

#!/usr/bin/env node
// scripts/curl-gen.ts
import * as fs from "fs";
import { program } from "commander";

program
  .name("curl-gen")
  .description("Generate cURL commands from API routes")
  .option("-f, --framework <type>", "Framework type", "express")
  .option("-s, --source <path>", "Source directory", "./src")
  .option("-o, --output <path>", "Output file", "./docs/api-curl.md")
  .option("-b, --base-url <url>", "Base URL", "http://localhost:3000/api")
  .option("--format <type>", "Output format (markdown|shell|plain)", "markdown")
  .option("-v, --verbose", "Include verbose flag")
  .parse();

const options = program.opts();

async function main() {
  const routes = await scanRoutes(options.framework, options.source);

  const content = generateCurlCommands(routes, {
    baseUrl: options.baseUrl,
    authHeader: "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN",
    verbose: options.verbose,
    format: options.format,
  });

  fs.writeFileSync(options.output, content);
  console.log(`Generated ${options.output} with ${routes.length} commands`);
}

main();

Makefile Integration

makefile

# Makefile
BASE_URL ?= http://localhost:3000/api
AUTH_TOKEN ?= your-token-here

.PHONY: api-login api-users api-user api-create-user

api-login:
	@curl -X POST "$(BASE_URL)/auth/login" \
		-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
		-d '{"email": "$(EMAIL)", "password": "$(PASSWORD)"}'

api-users:
	@curl -X GET "$(BASE_URL)/users" \
		-H "Authorization: Bearer $(AUTH_TOKEN)"

api-user:
	@curl -X GET "$(BASE_URL)/users/$(ID)" \
		-H "Authorization: Bearer $(AUTH_TOKEN)"

api-create-user:
	@curl -X POST "$(BASE_URL)/users" \
		-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
		-H "Authorization: Bearer $(AUTH_TOKEN)" \
		-d '$(DATA)'

# Usage:
# make api-login EMAIL=user@example.com PASSWORD=pass123
# make api-users AUTH_TOKEN=xxx
# make api-user ID=123 AUTH_TOKEN=xxx
# make api-create-user DATA='{"name":"John"}' AUTH_TOKEN=xxx

Best Practices

Use variables: Replace tokens and IDs with placeholders
Pretty print: Pipe to jq for readable JSON output
Save responses: Use -o to save responses for analysis
Check status: Use -w "%{http_code}" to see status codes
Silent mode: Use -sS for scripts to hide progress
Document examples: Include realistic sample data
Version control: Commit curl docs to repository
Environment files: Use env files for different environments

Output Checklist

All routes converted to cURL commands
Path parameters use {param} placeholder syntax
Query parameters included in URL
Request bodies with sample JSON data
Content-Type header for POST/PUT/PATCH
Authorization header with placeholder token
Commands grouped by resource
Output in requested format (markdown/shell/plain)
Proper escaping for shell special characters

Maintainer

majiayu000 Core maintainer

Source details

Full Name: majiayu000/claude-skill-registry
Branch: main
Path in repo: skills/data/curl-command-generator
License: MIT License

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SKILL.md

cURL Command Generator

Core Workflow

Basic cURL Syntax

Generator Script

Complete Example Output (Markdown)

Register

Users

List Users

Get User by ID

Create User

Update User

Delete User

Advanced cURL Flags

Environment-Specific Commands

CLI Script

Makefile Integration

Best Practices

Output Checklist

Recommended Agent Skills

agent-ops-spec

agent-ops-state

agent-ops-spec

agent-ops-testing

agent-ops-testing

agent-ops-state