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cpp-httplib/docs-src/pages/en/cookbook/s07-multipart-reader.md
yhirose c7db3da982 Document that the multipart part-count cap only applies to the buffered form path
CPPHTTPLIB_MULTIPART_FORM_DATA_FILE_MAX_COUNT is enforced only in
Server::read_content(), where parts are accumulated into req.form. The
streaming ContentReader path keeps nothing and was never in scope, but
this was undocumented (GHSA-923p-8q8g-xcqj). Note the split in the README
and show how to bound the part count from inside a ContentReader handler.
2026-08-28 08:26:08 -04:00

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---
title: "S07. Receive Multipart Data as a Stream"
order: 26
status: "draft"
---
A naive upload handler puts the whole request into `req.body`, which blows up memory for large files. Use `HandlerWithContentReader` to receive the body chunk by chunk.
## Basic usage
```cpp
svr.Post("/upload",
[](const httplib::Request &req, httplib::Response &res,
const httplib::ContentReader &content_reader) {
if (req.is_multipart_form_data()) {
content_reader(
// headers of each part
[&](const httplib::FormData &file) {
std::cout << "name: " << file.name
<< ", filename: " << file.filename << std::endl;
return true;
},
// body of each part (called multiple times)
[&](const char *data, size_t len) {
// write to disk here, for example
return true;
});
} else {
// plain request body
content_reader([&](const char *data, size_t len) {
return true;
});
}
res.set_content("ok", "text/plain");
});
```
The `content_reader` has two call shapes. For multipart data, pass two callbacks (one for headers, one for body). For plain bodies, pass just one.
## Write directly to disk
Here's how to stream an uploaded file to disk.
```cpp
svr.Post("/upload",
[](const httplib::Request &req, httplib::Response &res,
const httplib::ContentReader &content_reader) {
std::ofstream ofs;
content_reader(
[&](const httplib::FormData &file) {
if (!file.filename.empty()) {
ofs.open("uploads/" + file.filename, std::ios::binary);
}
return static_cast<bool>(ofs);
},
[&](const char *data, size_t len) {
ofs.write(data, len);
return static_cast<bool>(ofs);
});
res.set_content("uploaded", "text/plain");
});
```
Only a small chunk sits in memory at any moment, so gigabyte-scale files are no problem.
## Count the parts yourself
There is a cap on the number of parts, `CPPHTTPLIB_MULTIPART_FORM_DATA_FILE_MAX_COUNT` (1024 by default), but it only applies to the buffered path, where every part is accumulated into `req.form`. The `ContentReader` keeps nothing on the library side, so the cap does not apply here.
If you want an upper bound, count the parts yourself and return `false` from the header callback. The parser stops right there.
```cpp
svr.Post("/upload",
[](const httplib::Request &req, httplib::Response &res,
const httplib::ContentReader &content_reader) {
size_t count = 0;
auto ok = content_reader(
[&](const httplib::FormData &file) {
if (++count > 100) { return false; } // stop here
return true;
},
[&](const char *data, size_t len) {
return true;
});
if (!ok) {
res.status = httplib::StatusCode::BadRequest_400;
return;
}
res.set_content("ok", "text/plain");
});
```
When `content_reader` returns `false`, set the response status yourself. The rest of the body is left unread and the connection is closed, so a client that is still sending sees the connection drop.
> **Warning:** When you use `HandlerWithContentReader`, `req.body` stays **empty**. Handle the body yourself inside the callbacks.
> For the client side of multipart uploads, see [C07. Upload a file as multipart form data](../c07-multipart-upload).