Request

HTTP Accept Header

Informs the server about the media types the client can process in the response. The server uses content negotiation to select one of the proposed formats.

Purpose

Tells the server what content types (MIME types) the client understands and prefers to receive.

Accept: type/subtype Accept: type/subtype, type/subtype Accept: */* (any type)

Code Examples

See how to use the Accept header in different tools and languages.

curl -H "Accept: application/json" https://api.example.com/users
curl -H "Accept: text/html" https://example.com/page
curl -H "Accept: application/json, text/plain" https://api.example.com/data

Related Headers

Content-Type

Indicates the media type (MIME type) of the resource being sent. Tells the client how to interpret the response body.

Accept-Encoding

Indicates which content encoding (compression algorithm) the client supports. The server may compress the response body using one of these methods.

Accept-Language

Indicates which natural languages the client prefers. The server uses this for content negotiation to return the appropriate language version.

Vary

Determines how the response should be cached based on request headers. Ensures caches serve the correct version based on varying request criteria.

Test Your APIs

API Response Time Checker

Test your APIs and inspect response headers in real-time

HTTP Headers Reference

Complete reference of all HTTP request and response headers

accept headerhttp accepthttp headers guide