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Cache Header Checker

Ensure your static assets are cached effectively to reduce server load.

Cache Header Checker

Analyze HTTP caching headers (Cache-Control, ETag, Expires) to see how a resource is cached by browsers and CDNs.

Enter an asset URL above to evaluate its browser caching configuration.

HTTP Caching Basics

Web performance relies heavily on caching. When a browser downloads a resource (like an image, CSS file, or script), it checks HTTP headers to determine if and how long it can keep a copy locally. Proper caching prevents unnecessary network requests, speeding up subsequent page loads.

Key Cache Headers

  • Cache-Control: The primary header for caching directives. Common values include max-age=... (cache for X seconds), no-cache (revalidate before using), and no-store (never cache).
  • ETag: An identifier for a specific version of a resource. The browser sends this back to the server to check if the file has changed (304 Not Modified).
  • Last-Modified: A fallback or alternative to ETag, indicating when the file was last updated on the server.
  • Expires: An older caching header that specifies an absolute date when the resource expires. Cache-Control max-age takes precedence over this.

Related Guides

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