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jak-project/third-party/curl/docs/libcurl/curl_multi_socket_action.md
T
Alexander J. Semenuk 5d5e35fb9b fix: Windows toolchain compatibility (curl 8.21 re-vendor, endless reconfigure loop) (#4355)
## Problem

Windows builds break with a current local toolchain (Scoop LLVM 22.1.8,
CMake 4.4.0, VS 2026), in two independent ways:

1. The build stops at curl's deliberate guard: `#error "no non-blocking
method was found/used/set"` in `third-party/curl/lib/nonblock.c`.
2. From the second configure onward, `cmake --build` re-runs CMake in an
endless loop (observed 42 consecutive reconfigure cycles in a single
build). Likely the same mechanism behind the "endlessly building" VS
2026 note in `docs/setup/dev/vs.md`.

## Root cause

1. `third-party/curl/CMake/CurlTests.c` passes `int *` to
`ioctlsocket()`, whose third parameter is `u_long *`. Clang 22 promotes
`-Wincompatible-pointer-types` to a hard error in C, so the
`HAVE_IOCTLSOCKET_FIONBIO` try_compile silently fails and
`curl_config.h` never defines it. Upstream CI does not see this because
the windows-2022 runner image ships an older LLVM. GCC 14 promotes the
same warning to a hard error, which is very likely the `CurlTests.c.obj`
failure reported from MSYS2 in open-goal/jak-project#3551. Upstream curl
hit the identical problem with GCC 14 and fixed the probe in curl 8.8.0
(curl/curl#13578).
2. The root CMakeLists copies the build tree's `compile_commands.json`
into `<src>/build/` for clangd using `configure_file()`, which registers
its input as a configure dependency. CMake rewrites
`compile_commands.json` late in every generation, after
`CTestTestfile.cmake` and `cmake_install.cmake` (outputs of the same
Ninja regen rule), so once the dependency is registered the rule is
deterministically dirty and every `ninja` invocation re-runs CMake. A
pristine first configure is safe (the file does not exist yet, so the
`if(EXISTS ...)` guard skips the copy), which is why the loop looks
machine- or IDE-specific.

## Fix

1. Per review, re-vendor `third-party/curl` at the `curl-8_21_0` tag
(previously `curl-8_3_0`), which carries the upstream probe fix plus two
years of upstream development; `vendor.yaml` updated to match.
Adjustments the version jump forced:
- curl 8.15 removed the native macOS Secure Transport backend
(`CURL_USE_SECTRANSP`), so macOS now builds curl against OpenSSL like
Linux. The two macOS workflows install Homebrew `openssl@3` and export
`OPENSSL_ROOT_DIR` (keg-only), and the macOS setup docs gained the same
two lines.
- `CURL_BROTLI` / `CURL_ZSTD` switched to AUTO-detection in curl 8.10;
pinned OFF to keep the previous no-compression behavior and avoid
silently linking whatever the CI images happen to have.
- curl's new top-level `BUILD_EXAMPLES` cache option (default ON) leaked
into discord-rpc's identically named option and broke configure at a
nonexistent `examples/send-presence` directory; pinned OFF ahead of the
third-party subdirectories.

The diff is dominated by the mechanical tag-tree swap under
`third-party/curl` (linguist-vendored, collapsed in review). The
hand-written changes are `CMakeLists.txt`, the two macOS workflows,
`docs/setup/system/macos.md`, and `vendor.yaml`.
2. Swap `configure_file()` for `file(COPY ...)`: the same clangd copy
with no configure dependency registered. (`file(COPY_FILE ...
ONLY_IF_DIFFERENT)` would be cleaner still but requires CMake 3.21,
above the declared `cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)`.)

## Test plan

- [x] Fresh `cmake --preset Release-windows-clang` (LLVM 22, no cache
seeding) completes and logs `Enabled SSL backends: Schannel`; the
FIONBIO probe passes without the previous `#error`
- [x] Full Windows Release build from scratch in the branch worktree
(all 1422 targets)
- [x] goalc-test suite: 1509 passed, 0 failed
- [x] Second consecutive configure with `compile_commands.json` present:
the regen rule in `build.ninja` has no `compile_commands.json` input;
`<src>/build/compile_commands.json` is still refreshed for clangd
- [x] Repeated `ninja` invocations after a full build no longer re-run
CMake
- [x] macOS Intel and ARM CI green (first exercise of the OpenSSL
backend switch)

---

I work off a self-hosted forge, so this GitHub account is quiet; the
configure logs and ninja dirty-node traces from the investigation are
available if anyone wants the raw data.

(AI-assisted)
2026-07-27 19:19:18 -04:00

4.5 KiB
Vendored
Generated

c, SPDX-License-Identifier, Title, Section, Source, See-also, Protocol, Added-in
c SPDX-License-Identifier Title Section Source See-also Protocol Added-in
Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al. curl curl_multi_socket_action 3 libcurl
curl_multi_cleanup (3)
curl_multi_fdset (3)
curl_multi_info_read (3)
curl_multi_init (3)
the hiperfifo.c example
All
7.16.3

NAME

curl_multi_socket_action - read/write available data given an action

SYNOPSIS

#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLMcode curl_multi_socket_action(CURLM *multi_handle,
                                   curl_socket_t sockfd,
                                   int ev_bitmask,
                                   int *running_handles);

DESCRIPTION

When the application has detected action on a socket handled by libcurl, it should call curl_multi_socket_action(3) with the sockfd argument set to the socket with the action. When the events on a socket are known, they can be passed as an events bitmask ev_bitmask by first setting ev_bitmask to 0, and then adding using bitwise OR (|) any combination of events to be chosen from CURL_CSELECT_IN, CURL_CSELECT_OUT or CURL_CSELECT_ERR. When the events on a socket are unknown, pass 0 instead, and libcurl tests the descriptor internally. It is also permissible to pass CURL_SOCKET_TIMEOUT to the sockfd parameter in order to initiate the whole process or when a timeout occurs.

At return, running_handles points to the number of running easy handles within the multi handle. When this number reaches zero, all transfers are complete/done. When you call curl_multi_socket_action(3) on a specific socket and the counter decreases by one, it DOES NOT necessarily mean that this exact socket/transfer is the one that completed. Use curl_multi_info_read(3) to figure out which easy handle that completed.

The curl_multi_socket_action(3) function informs the application about updates in the socket (file descriptor) status by doing none, one, or multiple calls to the socket callback function set with the CURLMOPT_SOCKETFUNCTION(3) option to curl_multi_setopt(3). They update the status with changes since the previous time the callback was called.

Get the timeout time by setting the CURLMOPT_TIMERFUNCTION(3) option with curl_multi_setopt(3). Your application then gets called with information on how long to wait for socket actions at most before doing the timeout action: call the curl_multi_socket_action(3) function with the sockfd argument set to CURL_SOCKET_TIMEOUT. You can also use the curl_multi_timeout(3) function to poll the value at any given time, but for an event-based system using the callback is far better than relying on polling the timeout value.

When this function returns error, the state of all transfers are uncertain and they cannot be continued. curl_multi_socket_action(3) should not be called again on the same multi handle after an error has been returned, unless first removing all the handles and adding new ones.

TYPICAL USAGE

  1. Create a multi handle

  2. Set the socket callback with CURLMOPT_SOCKETFUNCTION(3)

  3. Set the timeout callback with CURLMOPT_TIMERFUNCTION(3), to get to know what timeout value to use when waiting for socket activities.

  4. Add easy handles with curl_multi_add_handle()

  5. Provide some means to manage the sockets libcurl is using, so you can check them for activity. This can be done through your application code, or by way of an external library such as libevent or glib.

  6. Call curl_multi_socket_action(..., CURL_SOCKET_TIMEOUT, 0, ...) to kickstart everything. To get one or more callbacks called.

  7. Wait for activity on any of libcurl's sockets, use the timeout value your callback has been told.

  8. When activity is detected, call curl_multi_socket_action() for the socket(s) that got action. If no activity is detected and the timeout expires, call curl_multi_socket_action(3) with CURL_SOCKET_TIMEOUT.

%PROTOCOLS%

EXAMPLE

int main(void)
{
  /* the event-library gets told when there is activity on the socket 'fd',
     which we translate to a call to curl_multi_socket_action() */
  int running = 0;
  int fd = 3; /* the descriptor that had action */
  int bitmask = 2; /* what activity that happened */

  CURLM *multi = curl_multi_init();

  CURLMcode mresult = curl_multi_socket_action(multi, fd, bitmask, &running);
  if(mresult)
    printf("error: %s\n", curl_multi_strerror(mresult));
}

%AVAILABILITY%

RETURN VALUE

This function returns a CURLMcode indicating success or error.

CURLM_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see libcurl-errors(3).