How to add headers in Python requests.get?

General Discussions
,
1

How can I use headers with the Python requests library’s get method?

I recently discovered the Python requests library (Requests: HTTP for Humans™ — Requests 2.32.3 documentation) for handling HTTP requests and I really enjoy working with it. However, I’m having trouble figuring out how to add headers to my GET requests. Can anyone help me with this?

2

Hello @dharapatel.130

One simple way to add headers to your API requests is by directly using the headers parameter in the requests.get() method. Here’s an example:

import requests

url = "https://api.example.com/data"
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer your_token",
    "User-Agent": "Python requests"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
print(response.text)

This approach works great if you’re making a single request or don’t need to manage headers across multiple calls.

Thank you!

3

Hey @dharapatel.130

That’s a great starting point! But if you’re planning to make multiple requests with the same headers, you might want to use a Session object. It helps manage headers and other settings globally, reducing redundancy in your code. Here’s how you can do it:

import requests

session = requests.Session()
session.headers.update({
    "Authorization": "Bearer your_token",
    "User-Agent": "Python requests"
})

url = "https://api.example.com/data"
response = session.get(url)
print(response.text)

This way, the headers are automatically included in all subsequent requests made with the session, saving you the hassle of specifying them every time.

4

Both approaches are valid, but if you need to modify headers dynamically just before a request—perhaps based on specific conditions—you can manually include them in each requests.get() call. For instance:

import requests

url = "https://api.example.com/data"
response = requests.get(url, headers={"Authorization": "Bearer your_token"})
print(response.text)

This method gives you more flexibility for one-off or dynamically-changing headers while still ensuring your request is properly authenticated or contains the necessary metadata.