Generate Response Headers
Returns a response carrying a requested number of headers. Useful for finding where header limits sit in a delivery chain, and for measuring how a large header block affects response size and parsing time.
Endpoint
The q parameter sets how many headers to generate. Omit it and the response
comes back with the default of 3.
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
q |
Integer | 3 | 1–500 | Number of headers to include in the response. |
Try it
Browsers hide most response headers, so use curl to see the full set.
Fetch with 10 headers
curl -sS -D - -o /dev/null \
"https://your-service.example/utilities/gen-response-headers?q=10"
Count what actually arrived
curl -sS -D - -o /dev/null \
"https://your-service.example/utilities/gen-response-headers?q=500" \
| grep -c .
Comparing the count you asked for against the count you received is the point of the test. A shortfall means something between the edge and your client dropped or truncated the block.
Notes
Values outside 1–500 are rejected. The upper bound exists because very large header blocks can exceed buffer limits in proxies, CDNs, and origin servers, and an unbounded value would make the endpoint a denial-of-service tool rather than a testing one.
- A non-numeric or missing
qfalls back to the default of 3. - Intermediate proxies may impose their own limit on total header size or count, so the number your client receives can be lower than the number requested.
- Header size counts against response overhead on every request. A block of 500 headers is a stress test, not a realistic configuration.
Ready to test?
Start at the default, then increase q until something in the chain stops keeping up.