curl-curl/docs
Viktor Szakats 89043ba906
cmake: drop support for CMake 3.17 and older
Require CMake 3.18 (2020-07-15) or newer, up from 3.7 (2016-11-11)
prior to this patch.

This requirement also applies to the distributed `curl-config.cmake`.

To allow dropping compatibility code maintained for old versions, and to
use features which were unpractical in separate code paths. Also to make
testing, documentation and development easier, CI builds faster due to
CMake performance improvements over time. (e.g. integration tests on
macOS run 8x faster (10 minutes is now under 1.5m) in CI, 2.5x faster on
Windows.)

CMake offers pre-built binaries for major platforms. They work without
an install step, just by unpacking and pointing the cmake command to
them. Making upgrades easy in many cases:
https://cmake.org/download/
https://cmake.org/files/
https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases

CMake 3.18 brings these feature as generally available when building or
consuming curl/libcurl:

LTO support, improved performance, `pkg-config` and interface target
support, `OBJECT` target (for faster libcurl builds), modern invocation
with `-S`/`-B` options, better support for custom linker options,
FetchContent, `GnuTLS::GnuTLS` target, `--verbose` and `--install`
options, `CMAKE_GENERATOR` env, last but not least unity mode and Ninja
generator.

For maximum build speed, use:
`-DCMAKE_UNITY_BUILD=ON -DCURL_DROP_UNUSED=ON`

As for deprecations, C++11 is required to build CMake itself, which may
be a limit on some platforms. autotools continues to cover them.

Follow-up to 9bcdfb3809 #20408
Follow-up to a7c974e038 #19902
Follow-up to dfbe035c8b #10161
Discussion: https://github.com/curl/curl/discussions/18704

Closes #20407
2026-03-21 13:24:47 +01:00
..
cmdline-opts netrc: refactor into smaller sub functions 2026-03-17 16:51:38 +01:00
examples cmake: drop support for CMake 3.17 and older 2026-03-21 13:24:47 +01:00
internals badwords: prefer 'null-terminated' 2026-03-18 11:40:13 +01:00
libcurl docs: enable more compiler warnings for C snippets, fix 3 finds 2026-03-19 14:21:53 +01:00
tests docs: minor wording tweaks 2026-03-11 08:46:01 +01:00
.gitignore docs: add RELEASE-TOOLS.md.dist to .gitignore 2024-07-01 22:49:55 +02:00
ALTSVC.md docs: fold long lines 2025-12-11 11:42:28 +01:00
BINDINGS.md docs: some nitpicks 2026-02-27 23:05:37 +01:00
BUG-BOUNTY.md BUG-BOUNTY.md: minor rephrase to say there is no bug bounty 2026-03-10 17:34:08 +01:00
BUGS.md docs: avoid using the word 'magic' 2026-03-03 15:32:13 +01:00
CIPHERS-TLS12.md docs: update CIPHERS.md 2024-08-12 23:35:56 +02:00
CIPHERS.md docs: avoid starting sentences with However, 2026-03-07 23:49:11 +01:00
CMakeLists.txt tests: move test docs into /docs 2025-05-28 15:00:03 +02:00
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md tidy-up: Markdown, clang-format nits 2026-01-22 23:44:47 +01:00
CODE_REVIEW.md docs: fix broken link in CODE_REVIEW.md 2025-06-21 10:32:06 +02:00
CONTRIBUTE.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00
curl-config.md docs: minor edits to please the new spellchecker regime 2025-02-27 13:15:21 +01:00
CURL-DISABLE.md build: add build-level CURL_DISABLE_TYPECHECK options 2025-11-21 13:48:35 +01:00
CURLDOWN.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
DEPRECATE.md cmake: drop support for CMake 3.17 and older 2026-03-21 13:24:47 +01:00
DISTROS.md docs: add LibreELEC to DISTROS.md 2026-01-26 12:12:05 -08:00
EARLY-RELEASE.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
ECH.md dnscache: own source file, improvements 2026-03-21 12:04:36 +01:00
EXPERIMENTAL.md docs/EXPERIMENTAL.md: add a mention of HTTPSRR as experimental 2025-01-16 19:41:42 +01:00
FAQ.md docs/lib: fix typos 2026-03-16 10:43:24 +01:00
FEATURES.md tidy-up: miscellaneous 2026-01-20 12:37:56 +01:00
GOVERNANCE.md docs: avoid starting sentences with However, 2026-03-07 23:49:11 +01:00
HELP-US.md tidy-up: miscellaneous 2026-01-15 13:06:13 +01:00
HISTORY.md docs: replace instances of the vague qualifier 'quite' 2026-03-07 23:52:50 +01:00
HSTS.md tidy-up: miscellaneous 2026-01-20 12:37:56 +01:00
HTTP3.md configure: fix --with-ngtcp2=<path> option for crypto libs 2026-03-17 14:37:53 +01:00
HTTP-COOKIES.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
HTTPSRR.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00
INFRASTRUCTURE.md BUG-BOUNTY.md: we stop the bug-bounty end of Jan 2026 2026-01-26 08:26:28 +01:00
INSTALL
INSTALL-CMAKE.md cmake: drop support for CMake 3.17 and older 2026-03-21 13:24:47 +01:00
INSTALL.md configure: add option to trace pkg-config detection details 2026-03-16 11:31:01 +01:00
INTERNALS.md cmake: drop support for CMake 3.17 and older 2026-03-21 13:24:47 +01:00
IPFS.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
KNOWN_BUGS.md docs: avoid starting sentences with However, 2026-03-07 23:49:11 +01:00
KNOWN_RISKS.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
MAIL-ETIQUETTE.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00
Makefile.am tidy-up: miscellaneous 2026-01-15 13:06:13 +01:00
MANUAL.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00
mk-ca-bundle.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
options-in-versions tool_getparam: add --knownhosts 2025-10-06 13:41:22 +02:00
README.md reuse: add copyright + license info to individual docs/*.md files 2024-03-31 12:01:18 +02:00
RELEASE-PROCEDURE.md RELEASE-PROCEDURE.md: update future release dates 2026-01-26 12:28:25 +01:00
ROADMAP.md CI: add whitespace checker 2024-06-27 13:33:30 +02:00
runtests.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00
RUSTLS.md tidy-up: URLs 2025-09-23 00:34:46 +02:00
SECURITY-ADVISORY.md stop using the word 'just' 2026-03-03 15:30:22 +01:00
SPONSORS.md BUG-BOUNTY.md: we stop the bug-bounty end of Jan 2026 2026-01-26 08:26:28 +01:00
SSL-PROBLEMS.md tidy-up: Markdown, clang-format nits 2026-01-22 23:44:47 +01:00
SSLCERTS.md tidy-up: miscellaneous 2025-12-12 04:18:48 +01:00
testcurl.md tidy-up: Markdown, clang-format nits 2026-01-22 23:44:47 +01:00
THANKS THANKS: add contributors from 8.19.0 release 2026-03-11 07:46:12 +01:00
THANKS-filter THANKS-filter: update with a new entry 2026-03-09 11:35:19 +01:00
TheArtOfHttpScripting.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00
TODO.md docs: avoid starting sentences with However, 2026-03-07 23:49:11 +01:00
URL-SYNTAX.md docs: avoid starting sentences with However, 2026-03-07 23:49:11 +01:00
VERSIONS.md VERSIONS: add 8.19.0 2026-03-11 07:46:12 +01:00
VULN-DISCLOSURE-POLICY.md BUG-BOUNTY.md: minor rephrase to say there is no bug bounty 2026-03-10 17:34:08 +01:00
wcurl.md badwords: avoid 'simply' 2026-03-10 19:34:06 +01:00

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Documentation

You find a mix of various documentation in this directory and subdirectories, using several different formats. Some of them are not ideal for reading directly in your browser.

If you would rather see the rendered version of the documentation, check out the curl website's documentation section for general curl stuff or the libcurl section for libcurl related documentation.