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python requests disable cache

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 1 min read

How to Disable Cache in Python Requests?

If you are working with web APIs or scraping websites with Python Requests library, you may encounter caching issues that can cause outdated or incorrect data to be returned. To avoid this, you can disable caching in your requests. Let's see how to do it:

Method 1: Using Cache Control Header

The easiest way to disable caching is by setting the Cache-Control header to "no-cache" in your request:


import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/data"

headers = {
    "Cache-Control": "no-cache"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

In this example, we set the Cache-Control header to "no-cache" in the headers dictionary and pass it to the get() method. This will instruct the server not to cache the response.

Method 2: Using Pragma Header

You can also use the Pragma header to disable caching:


import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/data"

headers = {
    "Pragma": "no-cache"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

This method is similar to the first one, but uses a different header.

Method 3: Using Cache-Control and Expires Headers

You can also use both Cache-Control and Expires headers to ensure that the response is not cached:


import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/data"

headers = {
    "Cache-Control": "no-cache",
    "Expires": "0"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)

In this example, we set both Cache-Control and Expires headers to disable caching. The Expires header is set to 0, which means the response should not be cached.

Using a Session Object to Disable Caching

Another way to disable caching is by using a session object:


import requests

url = "https://example.com/api/data"

session = requests.Session()

session.headers.update({
    "Cache-Control": "no-cache"
})

response = session.get(url)

In this example, we create a session object and set the Cache-Control header to "no-cache" using the update() method. Then, we use the get() method of the session object to send the request. This will ensure that the response is not cached.

These are some of the ways to disable caching in Python Requests. By doing so, you can ensure that you always get fresh and up-to-date data from web APIs or websites.

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