---
title: resources.GetRemote
description: Returns a remote resource from the given URL, or nil if none found.
categories: []
keywords: []
action:
  aliases: []
  related:
    - functions/data/GetCSV
    - functions/data/GetJSON
    - functions/resources/ByType
    - functions/resources/Get
    - functions/resources/GetMatch
    - functions/resources/Match
    - methods/page/Resources
  returnType: resource.Resource
  signatures: ['resources.GetRemote URL [OPTIONS]']
toc: true
---

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://example.org/images/a.jpg" }}
{{ with resources.GetRemote $url }}
  {{ with .Err }}
    {{ errorf "%s" . }}
  {{ else }}
    <img src="{{ .RelPermalink }}" width="{{ .Width }}" height="{{ .Height }}" alt="">
  {{ end }}
{{ else }}
  {{ errorf "Unable to get remote resource %q" $url }}
{{ end }}
```

## Options

The `resources.GetRemote` function takes an optional map of options.

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://example.org/api" }}
{{ $opts := dict
  "headers" (dict "Authorization" "Bearer abcd")
}}
{{ $resource := resources.GetRemote $url $opts }}
```

If you need multiple values for the same header key, use a slice:

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://example.org/api" }}
{{ $opts := dict
  "headers" (dict "X-List" (slice "a" "b" "c"))
}}
{{ $resource := resources.GetRemote $url $opts }}
```

You can also change the request method and set the request body:

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://example.org/api" }}
{{ $opts := dict
  "method" "post"
  "body" `{"complete": true}` 
  "headers" (dict  "Content-Type" "application/json")
}}
{{ $resource := resources.GetRemote $url $opts }}
```

## Remote data

When retrieving remote data, use the [`transform.Unmarshal`] function to [unmarshal] the response.

[`transform.Unmarshal`]: /functions/transform/unmarshal/
[unmarshal]: /getting-started/glossary/#unmarshal

```go-html-template
{{ $data := dict }}
{{ $url := "https://example.org/books.json" }}
{{ with resources.GetRemote $url }}
  {{ with .Err }}
    {{ errorf "%s" . }}
  {{ else }}
    {{ $data = . | transform.Unmarshal }}
  {{ end }}
{{ else }}
  {{ errorf "Unable to get remote resource %q" $url }}
{{ end }}
```

{{% note %}}
When retrieving remote data, a misconfigured server may send a response header with an incorrect [Content-Type]. For example, the server may set the Content-Type header to `application/octet-stream` instead of `application/json`.

In these cases, pass the resource `Content` through the `transform.Unmarshal` function instead of passing the resource itself. For example, in the above, do this instead:

`{{ $data = .Content | transform.Unmarshal }}`

[Content-Type]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Content-Type
{{% /note %}}

## Error handling

The [`Err`] method on a resource returned by the `resources.GetRemote` function returns an error message if the HTTP request fails, else nil. If you do not handle the error yourself, Hugo will fail the build.

[`Err`]: /methods/resource/err/

{{% note %}}
Hugo does not classify an HTTP response with status code 404 as an error. In this case the function returns nil.
{{% /note %}}

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://broken-example.org/images/a.jpg" }}
{{ with resources.GetRemote $url }}
  {{ with .Err }}
    {{ errorf "%s" . }}
  {{ else }}
    <img src="{{ .RelPermalink }}" width="{{ .Width }}" height="{{ .Height }}" alt="">
  {{ end }}
{{ else }}
  {{ errorf "Unable to get remote resource %q" $url }}
{{ end }}
```

To log an error as a warning instead of an error:

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://broken-example.org/images/a.jpg" }}
{{ with resources.GetRemote $url }}
  {{ with .Err }}
    {{ warnf "%s" . }}
  {{ else }}
    <img src="{{ .RelPermalink }}" width="{{ .Width }}" height="{{ .Height }}" alt="">
  {{ end }}
{{ else }}
  {{ errorf "Unable to get remote resource %q" $url }}
{{ end }}
```

## HTTP response

The [`Data`] method on a resource returned by the `resources.GetRemote` function returns information from the HTTP response.

[`Data`]: /methods/resource/data/

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://example.org/images/a.jpg" }}
{{ with resources.GetRemote $url }}
  {{ with .Err }}
    {{ errorf "%s" . }}
  {{ else }}
    {{ with .Data }}
      {{ .ContentLength }} → 42764
      {{ .ContentType }} → image/jpeg
      {{ .Status }} → 200 OK
      {{ .StatusCode }} → 200
      {{ .TransferEncoding }} → []
    {{ end }}
  {{ end }}
{{ else }}
  {{ errorf "Unable to get remote resource %q" $url }}
{{ end }}
```

ContentLength
: (`int`) The content length in bytes.

ContentType
: (`string`) The content type.

Status
: (`string`) The HTTP status text.

StatusCode
: (`int`) The HTTP status code.

TransferEncoding
: (`string`) The transfer encoding.

## Caching

Resources returned from `resources.GetRemote` are cached to disk. See [configure file caches] for details.

By default, Hugo derives the cache key from the arguments passed to the function, the URL and the options map, if any.

Override the cache key by setting a `key` in the options map. Use this approach to have more control over how often Hugo fetches a remote resource.

```go-html-template
{{ $url := "https://example.org/images/a.jpg" }}
{{ $cacheKey := print $url (now.Format "2006-01-02") }}
{{ $resource := resources.GetRemote $url (dict "key" $cacheKey) }}
```

[configure file caches]: /getting-started/configuration/#configure-file-caches

## Security

To protect against malicious intent, the `resources.GetRemote` function inspects the server response including:

- The [Content-Type] in the response header
- The file extension, if any
- The content itself

If Hugo is unable to resolve the media type to an entry in its [allowlist], the function throws an error:

```text
ERROR error calling resources.GetRemote: failed to resolve media type...
```

For example, you will see the error above if you attempt to download an executable.

Although the allowlist contains entries for common media types, you may encounter situations where Hugo is unable to resolve the media type of a file that you know to be safe. In these situations, edit your site configuration to add the media type to the allowlist. For example:

{{< code-toggle file=hugo >}}
[security.http]
mediaTypes = ['^image/avif$','^application/vnd\.api\+json$']
{{< /code-toggle >}}

Note that the entry above is:

- An _addition_ to the allowlist; it does not _replace_ the allowlist
- An array of regular expressions

[allowlist]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitelist
[Content-Type]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Content-Type
