Get HTTP Headers

The Get HTTP Headers tool retrieves the full set of response headers a server sends back for a given URL, revealing technical details normally hidden from a standard page view.

What Headers Actually Contain

HTTP headers carry metadata about a request and response that never appears in the visible page content — server software and version, caching instructions, content type, security policies, and cookie-setting instructions all travel as headers rather than as part of the page itself. Viewing them directly exposes this normally invisible layer of information about how a server is configured.

Headers Worth Paying Attention To

• Server — often reveals the web server software in use (Apache, Nginx, and version details), though many servers deliberately omit or obscure this for security reasons.
• Cache-Control — controls how browsers and CDNs are allowed to cache the response, directly affecting how quickly updates to a page become visible to returning visitors.
• Content-Security-Policy — defines which sources of scripts, styles, and other resources a browser is allowed to load, an important security control against cross-site scripting attacks.
• Set-Cookie — shows what cookies a server is instructing the browser to store, useful for auditing tracking or session behavior.

Common Use Cases

Diagnosing caching issues where updated content isn't showing for visitors, auditing a site's security headers as part of a basic security review, and verifying server configuration changes actually took effect after a deployment.