HTTP Header Parser

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Parse raw HTTP response headers into a structured table with names, values, and descriptions.

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About HTTP Header Parser

Paste raw HTTP response headers — one per line in the standard "Header-Name: value" format — and instantly see them structured in a readable table. Each header is shown with its name, value, and a plain-English description for over 25 common headers including Content-Type, Cache-Control, Strict-Transport-Security, Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, ETag, and rate-limiting headers. Unknown headers are displayed without a description. Ideal for debugging API responses, reviewing security headers, and understanding caching directives.

How to use

  1. Paste your HTTP response headers (one per line) into the input panel.
  2. Optionally include the HTTP status line (e.g. "HTTP/1.1 200 OK") — it will be automatically skipped.
  3. The parsed table with descriptions appears in the output panel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs about HTTP Header Parser

What header formats are accepted?

The tool accepts the standard HTTP header format: "Header-Name: value" with one header per line. An optional HTTP status line at the start (e.g. "HTTP/1.1 200 OK") is automatically detected and skipped.

Which headers have built-in descriptions?

Over 25 common headers have descriptions, including Content-Type, Content-Length, Cache-Control, ETag, Last-Modified, Set-Cookie, Access-Control-Allow-Origin, X-Frame-Options, Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, X-Request-Id, Vary, Retry-After, and several rate-limiting headers.

What happens with unknown or custom headers?

Any header not in the built-in list is still parsed and displayed in the table with its name and value — it just shows an empty description. This covers custom application headers like X-App-Version or X-Tenant-Id.

How do I get headers to paste into this tool?

In Chrome DevTools, open the Network tab, click a request, scroll to the Response Headers section, and copy the text. In cURL, use the -i flag to include response headers in the output. In Postman, switch to the Headers tab of the response.

Why is checking security headers important?

Headers like Strict-Transport-Security, Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are the first line of defence against common web attacks. QA engineers should verify these are present and correctly configured before releasing to production.