---
title: Execute a GraphQL query with curl
description: Learn about execute a graphql query with curl in Cloudflare analytics.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/core-services-preview.png
---

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# Execute a GraphQL query with curl

Using a plain curl to send a query provides the ability to slice-n-dice with the results and apply post-processing if needed. For example, converting results received from GraphQL API into a CSV format.

For more functionality, like auto-completion, schema exploring, etc., you can look at GraphQL [clients](https://developers.cloudflare.com/analytics/graphql-api/getting-started/compose-graphql-query/).

GraphQL API expects JSON with two essentials fields: "query" and "variables".

A query should be stripped from newline symbols and sent as a single-line string when the variables is an object full of values for all placeholders used in the query:

A payload structure for GraphQL API

```
{  "query": "{viewer { ... }}",  "variables": {}}
```

It is still possible to use a human-friendly query though. In the example below you can see how `echo` piped together with `tr` to provide a proper payload with `curl`:

Example bash script that uses curl to query Analytics API

```
echo '{ "query":  "{    viewer {      zones(filter: { zoneTag: $zoneTag }) {        firewallEventsAdaptive(          filter: $filter          limit: 10          orderBy: [datetime_DESC]        ) {          action          clientAsn          clientCountryName          clientIP          clientRequestPath          clientRequestQuery          datetime          source          userAgent        }      }    }  }",  "variables": {    "zoneTag": "<zone-tag>",    "filter": {      "datetime_geq": "2022-07-24T11:00:00Z",      "datetime_leq": "2022-07-24T12:00:00Z"    }  }}' | tr -d '\n' | curl --silent \https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/graphql \--header "Authorization: Bearer <API_TOKEN>" \--header "Content-Type: application/json" \--data @-
```

```json
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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/directory/","name":"Directory"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/analytics/","name":"Analytics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"/analytics/graphql-api/","name":"GraphQL Analytics API"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@id":"/analytics/graphql-api/getting-started/","name":"Get started"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@id":"/analytics/graphql-api/getting-started/execute-graphql-query/","name":"Execute a GraphQL query with curl"}}]}
```