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what are headers in python requests

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 1 min read

What are Headers in Python Requests?

Headers in Python Requests are pieces of information included in an HTTP request to provide additional information about the request. In simple terms, headers are metadata that gives the server more context about the request being made. Python requests module enables you to add custom headers to your HTTP requests using the headers parameter.

Why are headers important?

Headers are important because they can influence how a server responds to your request. A server can use these headers to determine things like:

  • The type of browser you are using
  • The type of device you are using
  • The type of data you are requesting
  • Your language preferences

How to add headers in Python Requests?

To add headers in Python Requests, you simply pass a dictionary of key-value pairs to the headers parameter. The key represents the header name, and the value represents the header value.


import requests

headers = {
    'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/58.0.3029.110 Safari/537.36'
}

response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', headers=headers)

In the above example, we pass the User-Agent header to our HTTP request to specify the type of browser and operating system we are using.

Commonly used headers

Here are some commonly used headers in Python Requests:

  • User-Agent: Specifies the type of browser and operating system being used.
  • Accept: Specifies the type of data that the client can accept.
  • Content-Type: Specifies the type of data that the client is sending to the server.
  • Authorization: Specifies the authentication details for the request.

It's important to note that while headers can be used to provide additional context to your requests, they can also be used to track your online activity. Therefore, it's important to be aware of the headers you are sending and limit the amount of personal information you include in them.

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