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Overview

cURL is a command-line tool for making HTTP requests. It’s perfect for quick tests and shell scripts.

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Basic Usage

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Simple Request (No API Key)

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=Hello%20World" -o qr.png
This will generate a QR code for “Hello World” and save it as qr.png.
Spaces and special characters need to be URL-encoded. In the example above, the space becomes %20.

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Using an API Key

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With Query Parameter

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=Hello%20World&apiKey=sk_YOUR_API_KEY" -o qr.png

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With Header (Better!)

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=Hello%20World" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o qr.png
Using the header keeps your API key out of server logs - much more secure!

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Common Use Cases

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Website URL

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=https://maybesurya.dev" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o website-qr.png

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=mailto:hello@example.com" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o email-qr.png

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Email with Subject

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=mailto:hello@example.com?subject=Hello%20from%20QR" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o email-with-subject-qr.png

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Phone Number

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=tel:+1234567890" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o phone-qr.png

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SMS Message

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=sms:+1234567890?body=Hello%20from%20QrX" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o sms-qr.png

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WiFi Network

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:MyPassword;;" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o wifi-qr.png

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vCard Contact

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=BEGIN:VCARD%0AVERSION:3.0%0AFN:John%20Doe%0ATEL:+1234567890%0AEMAIL:john@example.com%0AEND:VCARD" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o contact-qr.png

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Advanced Usage

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Save to Specific Directory

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o /path/to/output/qr.png

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Show Response Headers

curl -i "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o qr.png

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Verbose Output (For Debugging)

curl -v "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o qr.png

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Silent Mode (No Progress Bar)

curl -s "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o qr.png

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Shell Script Integration

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Bash Script Example

#!/bin/bash

# Configuration
API_KEY="sk_YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL="https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen"

# Function to generate QR code
generate_qr() {
    local data=$1
    local output=$2

    curl -s "$BASE_URL?data=$data" \
        -H "x-api-key: $API_KEY" \
        -o "$output"

    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "✓ QR code generated: $output"
    else
        echo "✗ Failed to generate QR code"
        return 1
    fi
}

# Generate multiple QR codes
generate_qr "https://maybesurya.dev" "website.png"
generate_qr "tel:+1234567890" "phone.png"
generate_qr "mailto:hello@example.com" "email.png"

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Batch Processing

#!/bin/bash

API_KEY="sk_YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL="https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen"

# Read URLs from a file and generate QR codes
while IFS= read -r url; do
    filename=$(echo "$url" | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/_/g').png

    curl -s "$BASE_URL?data=$url" \
        -H "x-api-key: $API_KEY" \
        -o "$filename"

    echo "Generated: $filename"
    sleep 0.6  # Respect rate limits
done < urls.txt

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Error Handling

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Check HTTP Status Code

HTTP_CODE=$(curl -s -o qr.png -w "%{http_code}" \
    "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
    -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY")

if [ $HTTP_CODE -eq 200 ]; then
    echo "Success! QR code generated."
elif [ $HTTP_CODE -eq 429 ]; then
    echo "Rate limit exceeded. Please wait."
elif [ $HTTP_CODE -eq 401 ]; then
    echo "Invalid API key."
else
    echo "Error: HTTP $HTTP_CODE"
fi

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Using Environment Variables

For security, store your API key in an environment variable: 
# Set the environment variable
export QRX_API_KEY="sk_YOUR_API_KEY"

# Use it in your requests
curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
  -H "x-api-key: $QRX_API_KEY" \
  -o qr.png
Or create a .env file: 
# .env file
QRX_API_KEY=sk_YOUR_API_KEY
Load it in your script: 
#!/bin/bash
source .env

curl "https://qrgen.maybesurya.live/api/qrgen?data=test" \
  -H "x-api-key: $QRX_API_KEY" \
  -o qr.png
Never commit .env files to version control! Add them to .gitignore.

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Tips & Best Practices

✅ Do: - Use environment variables for API keys - URL-encode special characters - Add error handling in scripts - Respect rate limits - Use the -s flag for scripts
❌ Don’t: - Hardcode API keys in scripts - Forget to URL-encode data - Ignore HTTP status codes - Make too many requests - Commit API keys to Git

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Next Steps

JavaScript Examples

Use QrX in browser JavaScript

Python Examples

Use QrX in Python applications

Node.js Examples

Use QrX in Node.js applications

API Reference

Complete API documentation