How do I analyze HTTP response headers?

Run curl -I or copy response headers from browser DevTools, paste them into the analyzer, and review status, redirect, cache, CORS, security, and cookie findings.

Are pasted headers uploaded?

No. The HTTP Header Analyzer runs in the browser and does not upload pasted headers to BytePane servers.

Does this replace a production security scan?

No. It is a quick local triage tool for response headers. Validate final security posture with your app threat model, browser tests, CDN configuration, and production monitoring.

HTTP Header Analyzer

Paste response headers from curl -I, curl -I -L, browser DevTools, or a proxy log to inspect status codes, redirects, caching, CORS, security headers, cookies, and crawler-sensitive robots headers.

Reviewed June 1, 2026. Privacy model: tool input is processed in your browser and is not uploaded to BytePane servers.

Response headers

Paste one response or a full redirect chain separated by blank lines.

HTTP/2 301
date: Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:15:00 GMT
location: https://www.example.com/tools/
cache-control: public, max-age=3600
server: cloudflare

HTTP/2 200
date: Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:15:00 GMT
content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
cache-control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
content-security-policy: default-src 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'
x-content-type-options: nosniff
referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
permissions-policy: geolocation=(), camera=(), microphone=()
vary: Accept-Encoding, Origin
set-cookie: session=redacted; Path=/; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Lax

Analysis summary

Responses

High

Warnings

Info

Final response

200 OK

Fix high-risk findings first, then rerun the same header capture.

InfoResponse #1Location

301 redirect detected

Confirm the redirect is intentional, one-hop, and not listed as an indexable URL in sitemap.xml.

WarningResponse #1Strict-Transport-Security

Missing Strict-Transport-Security

HSTS tells browsers to use HTTPS for future requests. Add it after confirming the whole hostname works correctly over HTTPS.

WarningResponse #1Content-Security-Policy

Missing Content-Security-Policy

A CSP helps reduce script injection impact and can also control framing with frame-ancestors.

WarningResponse #1X-Content-Type-Options

Missing X-Content-Type-Options

Add nosniff to reduce browser MIME-sniffing surprises for scripts, styles, and downloads.

InfoResponse #1Referrer-Policy

Missing Referrer-Policy

Set a referrer policy such as strict-origin-when-cross-origin to control what URL data leaves the page.

InfoResponse #1Permissions-Policy

Missing Permissions-Policy

Use Permissions-Policy to explicitly disable or scope browser capabilities such as camera, microphone, and geolocation.

HighResponse #2Cache-Control

Public cache with Set-Cookie

Responses that set cookies should usually not be shared-cacheable unless you are certain no private data is exposed.

WarningResponse #2Cache-Control

HTML cache lifetime is long

Long-lived HTML can delay content updates, canonical changes, schema fixes, and meta tag corrections.

Response chain

Response #1

301 Redirect

HTTP/2 301

Location: https://www.example.com/tools/

Headers

Errors

Response #2

200 OK

HTTP/2 200

Headers

Errors

How to use the report

Fix 5xx, 403, noindex, and redirect-chain problems before tuning optional headers.
Check one canonical URL, one static asset, one API route, and one redirect source separately.
For SEO pages, keep sitemap URLs at 200 OK with indexable HTML and no blocking X-Robots-Tag.
For apps, verify CORS, cookies, CSP, and cache rules in the same CDN path that users hit.

Helpful command

curl -I -L https://example.com/

Parsed headers

Response	Header	Value
#1	Date	Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:15:00 GMT
#1	Location	https://www.example.com/tools/
#1	Cache-Control	public, max-age=3600
#1	Server	cloudflare
#2	Date	Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:15:00 GMT
#2	Content-Type	text/html; charset=utf-8
#2	Cache-Control	public, max-age=31536000, immutable
#2	Strict-Transport-Security	max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
#2	Content-Security-Policy	default-src 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'
#2	X-Content-Type-Options	nosniff
#2	Referrer-Policy	strict-origin-when-cross-origin
#2	Permissions-Policy	geolocation=(), camera=(), microphone=()
#2	Vary	Accept-Encoding, Origin
#2	Set-Cookie	session=redacted; Path=/; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Lax

Source-backed checks

What the analyzer looks for

The checks follow common browser and web-security references: MDN HTTP headers and CORS behavior, the OWASP HTTP Headers Cheat Sheet, and the OWASP Secure Headers project. Use the report as fast triage, then validate your production CDN, origin, and app framework configuration.

HTTP status codes Performance guide AI crawler tester MDN HTTP headers OWASP header checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get headers for this analyzer?

Run curl -I https://example.com/ for one response, curl -I -L https://example.com/ for a redirect chain, or copy response headers from the Network tab in browser DevTools.

Does the tool fetch my URL?

No. This version is paste-only so private staging URLs, cookies, and internal hostnames are not fetched by BytePane. The analysis runs in your browser.

Which headers matter most for SEO?

Status code, Location, canonical HTML, X-Robots-Tag, Cache-Control, Content-Type, and consistent 200-status indexable responses matter most for crawl and indexing hygiene.

Which headers matter most for browser security?

Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy, safe Set-Cookie flags, and careful CORS settings are the main quick checks.