What is Headcheck?
Headcheck is a feature that lets you decide whether the header information of your product feed should be checked first, before the actual file is downloaded.
This works by reading the header data of the source file, in particular:
ETag
Last-Modified
Content-Length
Based on this information, the system checks whether the file has changed since the last retrieval. The file is only actually downloaded if the header information indicates that new or changed data is available. This avoids unnecessary downloads when the product feed hasn't changed since the last check.
Enabling Headcheck
Open the Headcheck section in the import settings step 3.
Switch the Headcheck toggle on (green/active) to enable the feature.
If Headcheck is disabled, the file is downloaded as usual on every run, without a prior header check.
Handling missing headers
Not every server provides complete header information. If ETag, Last-Modified, and Content-Length are all missing, Headcheck has no reliable way to determine whether the file has changed.
For this case, use "Missing Headers in Headcheck" to define which action should be taken when all header data is missing:
Download the file – The file is downloaded to be safe, even though no header information is available for change detection.
Note: This setting only applies when all relevant header fields are missing. If at least one of the three values (ETag, Last-Modified, or Content-Length) is present, Headcheck uses it normally for change detection.
Summary
Setting | Function |
Headcheck (On/Off) | Enables checking header information before the download |
Missing Headers in Headcheck | Defines the behavior when no header data is available |
Headcheck ensures that downloads only run when new data is actually available. Saving resources and load time for unchanged feeds.