curl/docs/cmdline-opts/list-only.md

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c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, daniel@haxx.se, et al. SPDX-License-Identifier: curl Long: list-only Short: l Protocols: FTP POP3 SFTP FILE Help: List only mode Added: 4.0 Category: ftp pop3 sftp file Multi: boolean See-also:

• quote
• request Example:
• --list-only ftp://example.com/dir/ ---

--list-only

When listing an FTP directory, force a name-only view. Maybe particularly useful if the user wants to machine-parse the contents of an FTP directory since the normal directory view does not use a standard look or format. When used like this, the option causes an NLST command to be sent to the server instead of LIST.

Note: Some FTP servers list only files in their response to NLST; they do not include sub-directories and symbolic links.

When listing an SFTP directory, this switch forces a name-only view, one per line. This is especially useful if the user wants to machine-parse the contents of an SFTP directory since the normal directory view provides more information than just filenames.

When retrieving a specific email from POP3, this switch forces a LIST command to be performed instead of RETR. This is particularly useful if the user wants to see if a specific message-id exists on the server and what size it is.

For FILE, this option has no effect yet as directories are always listed in this mode.

Note: When combined with --request, this option can be used to send a UIDL command instead, so the user may use the email's unique identifier rather than its message-id to make the request.