---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Title: curl_ws_recv
Section: 3
Source: libcurl
See-also:
  - curl_easy_getinfo (3)
  - curl_easy_perform (3)
  - curl_easy_setopt (3)
  - curl_ws_send (3)
  - libcurl-ws (3)
Protocol:
  - WS
Added-in: 7.86.0
---

# NAME

curl_ws_recv - receive WebSocket data

# SYNOPSIS

~~~c
#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_ws_recv(CURL *curl, void *buffer, size_t buflen,
                      size_t *recv, const struct curl_ws_frame **meta);
~~~

# DESCRIPTION

Retrieves as much as possible of a received WebSocket frame into the *buffer*,
but not more than *buflen* bytes. *recv* is set to the number of bytes
actually stored.

If the function call is successful, the *meta* pointer gets set to point to a
*const struct curl_ws_frame* that contains information about the received
data. That struct must not be freed and its contents must not be relied upon
anymore once another WebSocket function is called. See curl_ws_meta(3) for
more details on that struct.

The application must check `meta->bytesleft` to determine whether the complete
frame has been received. If more payload is pending, the application must call
this function again with an updated *buffer* and *buflen* to resume receiving.
This may for example happen when the data does not fit into the provided
buffer or when not all frame data has been delivered over the network yet.

If the application wants to read the metadata without consuming any payload,
it may call this function with a *buflen* of zero. Setting *buffer* to a NULL
pointer is permitted in this case. Note that frames without payload are
consumed by this action.

If the received message consists of multiple fragments, the *CURLWS_CONT* bit
is set in all frames except the final one. The appropriate *CURLWS_TEXT* or
*CURLWS_BINARY* flag is set in every frame, regardless whether it is the first
fragment, an intermediate fragment or the final fragment. The application is
responsible for reassembling fragmented messages. Special care must be taken
to correctly handle control frames (i.e. CLOSE, PING and PONG) arriving in
between consecutive fragments of a fragmented TEXT or BINARY message. See
curl_ws_meta(3) for more details on *CURLWS_CONT*.

The WebSocket protocol consists of *messages* that can be delivered over the
wire as one or more *frames* - but since a frame can be too large to buffer in
memory, libcurl may need to deliver partial frames to the application.
Fragments, or chunks, of frames.

# %PROTOCOLS%

# EXAMPLE

~~~c
int main(void)
{
  char buffer[256];
  size_t offset = 0;
  CURLcode result = CURLE_OK;
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();

  curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "wss://example.com/");
  curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_CONNECT_ONLY, 2L);
  /* start HTTPS connection and upgrade to WSS, then return control */
  curl_easy_perform(curl);

  /* Note: This example neglects fragmented messages.
     (CURLWS_CONT bit) A real application must handle them
     appropriately. */

  while(!result) {
    size_t recv;
    const struct curl_ws_frame *meta;
    result = curl_ws_recv(curl, buffer + offset,
                          sizeof(buffer) - offset, &recv,
                          &meta);
    offset += recv;

    if(result == CURLE_OK) {
      if(meta->bytesleft == 0)
        break; /* finished receiving */
      if(meta->bytesleft > sizeof(buffer) - offset)
        result = CURLE_TOO_LARGE;
    }

    if(result == CURLE_AGAIN)
      /* in real application: wait for socket here, e.g. using select() */
      result = CURLE_OK;
  }

  curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
  return (int)result;
}
~~~

# %AVAILABILITY%

# RETURN VALUE

This function returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.

CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see
libcurl-errors(3). If CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER(3) was set with curl_easy_setopt(3)
there can be an error message stored in the error buffer when non-zero is
returned.

Returns **CURLE_GOT_NOTHING** if the associated connection is closed.

Instead of blocking, the function returns **CURLE_AGAIN**. The correct
behavior is then to wait for the socket to signal readability before calling
this function again.

Any other non-zero return value indicates an error. See the libcurl-errors(3)
man page for the full list with descriptions.

Returns **CURLE_GOT_NOTHING** if the associated connection is closed.
