CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN(3) Library Functions Manual
NAME
CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN - max lifetime (since creation) allowed for
reusing a connection
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN,
long maxlifetime);
DESCRIPTION
Pass a long as parameter containing maxlifetime - the maximum time in
seconds, since the creation of the connection, that you allow an
existing connection to have to be considered for reuse for this
request.
libcurl features a connection cache that holds previously used
connections. When a new request is to be done, libcurl considers any
connection that matches for reuse. The CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN(3)
limit prevents libcurl from trying too old connections for reuse. This
can be used for client-side load balancing. If a connection is found in
the cache that is older than this set maxlifetime, it is instead marked
for closure.
If set to 0, this behavior is disabled: all connections are eligible
for reuse.
DEFAULT
24 hours (since 8.17.0). Before that, the default was 0 seconds (i.e.,
disabled)
PROTOCOLS
This functionality affects all supported protocols
EXAMPLE
int main(void)
{
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
/* only allow each connection to be reused for 30 seconds */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN, 30L);
curl_easy_perform(curl);
}
}
AVAILABILITY
Added in curl 7.80.0
RETURN VALUE
curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.
CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred,
see libcurl-errors(3).
SEE ALSO
CURLOPT_FORBID_REUSE(3), CURLOPT_FRESH_CONNECT(3),
CURLOPT_MAXAGE_CONN(3), CURLOPT_TIMEOUT(3)
libcurl 2026-03-23 CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN(3)
curl 8.19.0 - Generated Sat Mar 28 07:22:26 CDT 2026