CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN(3) Introduction to Library Functions

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 2026-01-08 CURLOPT_MAXLIFETIME_CONN(3)