HEADActive
HEAD is identical to GET but the server returns only headers, not the response body. Used to check resource existence, get metadata (Content-Length, Content-Type, Last-Modified), and validate cached copies without downloading the full body.
Properties
| Safe | Yes | Safe methods don't change server state. They are read-only. |
| Idempotent | Yes | Idempotent methods produce the same result if called once or multiple times. |
| Cacheable | Yes | Cacheable responses may be stored and reused for equivalent requests. |
| Request Body | No | Whether a request body is allowed / expected. |
| Response Body | No | Whether a response body is expected. |
Description
The HEAD method asks for a response identical to a GET request, but without the response body. This is useful for retrieving meta-information written in response headers, without having to transport the entire content.
Examples
Check existence
http
HEAD /api/users/42 HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.comResponse
http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 342 ETag: "abc123"
Last-Modified: Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT