[FAQ] curl -i prompts for Uri in Windows PowerShell

[ThAu-Tr]

Course

ai-dev-tools-zoomcamp

Question

Why does curl -i http://localhost:8000/api/orders/standard-1002 prompt me to supply a Uri instead of making the request?

Answer

In Windows PowerShell 5.1, curl is an alias for PowerShell’s Invoke-WebRequest, not the real curl program. Therefore its flags, including -i, do not work like they do on Linux or macOS.

Call the curl executable explicitly:

curl.exe -i http://localhost:8000/api/orders/standard-1002

-i tells curl to include the HTTP response headers in the output.

Alternatively, use PowerShell’s own command explicitly:

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://localhost:8000/api/orders/standard-1002

On PowerShell 7 and later, curl is no longer this alias. Microsoft’s Windows curl documentation

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[github-actions]

✅ FAQ NEW proposal created in PR #434

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