The HEAD operation retrieves metadata from an object without returning the object
itself. This operation is useful if you're interested only in an object's metadata.
A HEAD request has the same options as a GET operation on an object. The
response is identical to the GET response except that there is no response body. Because
of this, if the HEAD request generates an error, it returns a generic code, such as
400 Bad Request, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, 405
Method Not Allowed, 412 Precondition Failed, or 304 Not Modified.
It's not possible to retrieve the exact exception of these error codes.
Request headers are limited to 8 KB in size. For more information, see Common Request Headers.
Permissions
General purpose bucket permissions - To use
HEAD, you must have the s3:GetObject permission. You need the
relevant read object (or version) permission for this operation. For more information, see
Actions, resources,
and condition keys for Amazon S3 in the Amazon S3 User Guide. For more
information about the permissions to S3 API operations by S3 resource types, see Required permissions for
Amazon S3 API operations in the Amazon S3 User Guide.
If the object you request doesn't exist, the error that Amazon S3 returns depends on whether
you also have the s3:ListBucket permission.
If you have the s3:ListBucket permission on the bucket, Amazon S3 returns an
HTTP status code 404 Not Found error.
If you don’t have the s3:ListBucket permission, Amazon S3 returns an HTTP
status code 403 Forbidden error.
Directory bucket permissions - To grant access to this API operation on a directory bucket, we recommend that you use the CreateSession API operation for session-based authorization. Specifically, you grant the s3express:CreateSession permission to the directory bucket in a bucket policy or an IAM identity-based policy. Then, you make the CreateSession API call on the bucket to obtain a session token. With the session token in your request header, you can make API requests to this operation. After the session token expires, you make another CreateSession API call to generate a new session token for use.
Amazon Web Services CLI or SDKs create session and refresh the session token automatically to avoid service interruptions when a session expires. For more information about authorization, see CreateSession.
If you enable x-amz-checksum-mode in the request and the object is encrypted
with Amazon Web Services Key Management Service (Amazon Web Services KMS), you must also have the
kms:GenerateDataKey and kms:Decrypt permissions in IAM
identity-based policies and KMS key policies for the KMS key to retrieve the checksum of
the object.
Encryption
Encryption request headers, like x-amz-server-side-encryption, should not be
sent for HEAD requests if your object uses server-side encryption with Key Management Service
(KMS) keys (SSE-KMS), dual-layer server-side encryption with Amazon Web Services KMS keys (DSSE-KMS), or
server-side encryption with Amazon S3 managed encryption keys (SSE-S3). The
x-amz-server-side-encryption header is used when you PUT an object
to S3 and want to specify the encryption method. If you include this header in a
HEAD request for an object that uses these types of keys, you’ll get an HTTP
400 Bad Request error. It's because the encryption method can't be changed when
you retrieve the object.
If you encrypt an object by using server-side encryption with customer-provided encryption
keys (SSE-C) when you store the object in Amazon S3, then when you retrieve the metadata from the
object, you must use the following headers to provide the encryption key for the server to be able
to retrieve the object's metadata. The headers are:
Directory bucket -
For directory buckets, there are only two supported options for server-side encryption: SSE-S3 and SSE-KMS. SSE-C isn't supported. For more
information, see Protecting data with server-side encryption in the Amazon S3 User Guide.
Versioning
If the current version of the object is a delete marker, Amazon S3 behaves as if the object was
deleted and includes x-amz-delete-marker: true in the response.
If the specified version is a delete marker, the response returns a 405 Method Not
Allowed error and the Last-Modified: timestamp response header.
Directory buckets -
Delete marker is not supported for directory buckets.
Directory buckets -
S3 Versioning isn't enabled and supported for directory buckets. For this API operation, only the null value of the version ID is supported by directory buckets. You can only specify null to the
versionId query parameter in the request.
HTTP Host header syntax
Directory buckets - The HTTP Host header syntax is Bucket-name.s3express-zone-id.region-code.amazonaws.com.
For directory buckets, you must make requests for this API operation to the Zonal endpoint. These endpoints support virtual-hosted-style requests in the format https://amzn-s3-demo-bucket.s3express-zone-id.region-code.amazonaws.com/key-name. Path-style requests are not supported. For more information about endpoints in Availability Zones, see Regional and Zonal endpoints for directory buckets in Availability Zones in the
Amazon S3 User Guide. For more information about endpoints in Local Zones, see Concepts for directory buckets in Local Zones in the
Amazon S3 User Guide.
You must URL encode any signed header values that contain spaces. For example, if your header value is my file.txt, containing two spaces after my, you must URL encode this value to my%20%20file.txt.
Example
Use a bare-bones client and the command you need to make an API call.
The
HEADoperation retrieves metadata from an object without returning the object itself. This operation is useful if you're interested only in an object's metadata.A
HEADrequest has the same options as aGEToperation on an object. The response is identical to theGETresponse except that there is no response body. Because of this, if theHEADrequest generates an error, it returns a generic code, such as400 Bad Request,403 Forbidden,404 Not Found,405 Method Not Allowed,412 Precondition Failed, or304 Not Modified. It's not possible to retrieve the exact exception of these error codes.Request headers are limited to 8 KB in size. For more information, see Common Request Headers.
General purpose bucket permissions - To use
HEAD, you must have thes3:GetObjectpermission. You need the relevant read object (or version) permission for this operation. For more information, see Actions, resources, and condition keys for Amazon S3 in the Amazon S3 User Guide. For more information about the permissions to S3 API operations by S3 resource types, see Required permissions for Amazon S3 API operations in the Amazon S3 User Guide.If the object you request doesn't exist, the error that Amazon S3 returns depends on whether you also have the
s3:ListBucketpermission.If you have the
s3:ListBucketpermission on the bucket, Amazon S3 returns an HTTP status code404 Not Founderror.If you don’t have the
s3:ListBucketpermission, Amazon S3 returns an HTTP status code403 Forbiddenerror.Directory bucket permissions - To grant access to this API operation on a directory bucket, we recommend that you use the
CreateSessionAPI operation for session-based authorization. Specifically, you grant thes3express:CreateSessionpermission to the directory bucket in a bucket policy or an IAM identity-based policy. Then, you make theCreateSessionAPI call on the bucket to obtain a session token. With the session token in your request header, you can make API requests to this operation. After the session token expires, you make anotherCreateSessionAPI call to generate a new session token for use. Amazon Web Services CLI or SDKs create session and refresh the session token automatically to avoid service interruptions when a session expires. For more information about authorization, seeCreateSession.If you enable
x-amz-checksum-modein the request and the object is encrypted with Amazon Web Services Key Management Service (Amazon Web Services KMS), you must also have thekms:GenerateDataKeyandkms:Decryptpermissions in IAM identity-based policies and KMS key policies for the KMS key to retrieve the checksum of the object.Encryption request headers, like
x-amz-server-side-encryption, should not be sent forHEADrequests if your object uses server-side encryption with Key Management Service (KMS) keys (SSE-KMS), dual-layer server-side encryption with Amazon Web Services KMS keys (DSSE-KMS), or server-side encryption with Amazon S3 managed encryption keys (SSE-S3). Thex-amz-server-side-encryptionheader is used when youPUTan object to S3 and want to specify the encryption method. If you include this header in aHEADrequest for an object that uses these types of keys, you’ll get an HTTP400 Bad Requesterror. It's because the encryption method can't be changed when you retrieve the object.If you encrypt an object by using server-side encryption with customer-provided encryption keys (SSE-C) when you store the object in Amazon S3, then when you retrieve the metadata from the object, you must use the following headers to provide the encryption key for the server to be able to retrieve the object's metadata. The headers are:
x-amz-server-side-encryption-customer-algorithmx-amz-server-side-encryption-customer-keyx-amz-server-side-encryption-customer-key-MD5For more information about SSE-C, see Server-Side Encryption (Using Customer-Provided Encryption Keys) in the Amazon S3 User Guide.
Directory bucket - For directory buckets, there are only two supported options for server-side encryption: SSE-S3 and SSE-KMS. SSE-C isn't supported. For more information, see Protecting data with server-side encryption in the Amazon S3 User Guide.
If the current version of the object is a delete marker, Amazon S3 behaves as if the object was deleted and includes
x-amz-delete-marker: truein the response.If the specified version is a delete marker, the response returns a
405 Method Not Allowederror and theLast-Modified: timestampresponse header.Directory buckets - Delete marker is not supported for directory buckets.
Directory buckets - S3 Versioning isn't enabled and supported for directory buckets. For this API operation, only the
nullvalue of the version ID is supported by directory buckets. You can only specifynullto theversionIdquery parameter in the request.Directory buckets - The HTTP Host header syntax is
Bucket-name.s3express-zone-id.region-code.amazonaws.com.For directory buckets, you must make requests for this API operation to the Zonal endpoint. These endpoints support virtual-hosted-style requests in the format
https://amzn-s3-demo-bucket.s3express-zone-id.region-code.amazonaws.com/key-name. Path-style requests are not supported. For more information about endpoints in Availability Zones, see Regional and Zonal endpoints for directory buckets in Availability Zones in the Amazon S3 User Guide. For more information about endpoints in Local Zones, see Concepts for directory buckets in Local Zones in the Amazon S3 User Guide.The following actions are related to
HeadObject:GetObject
GetObjectAttributes
You must URL encode any signed header values that contain spaces. For example, if your header value is
my file.txt, containing two spaces aftermy, you must URL encode this value tomy%20%20file.txt.Example
Use a bare-bones client and the command you need to make an API call.
Param: HeadObjectCommandInput
HeadObjectCommandInput
Returns
HeadObjectCommandOutput
See
inputshape.responseshape.configshape.Throws
NotFound (client fault)
The specified content does not exist.
Throws
S3ServiceException
Base exception class for all service exceptions from S3 service.
Example: To retrieve metadata of an object without returning the object itself