CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_MAXCONNECTS, long amount);
When reaching the maximum limit, curl closes the oldest one in the cache to prevent increasing the number of open connections.
If you already have performed transfers with this curl handle, setting a smaller CURLOPT_MAXCONNECTS(3) than before may cause open connections to get closed unnecessarily.
If you add this easy handle to a multi handle, this setting is not acknowledged, and you must instead use curl_multi_setopt(3) and the CURLMOPT_MAXCONNECTS(3) option.
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init(); if(curl) { CURLcode ret; curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com/"); /* limit the connection cache for this handle to no more than 3 */ curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_MAXCONNECTS, 3L); ret = curl_easy_perform(curl); }