Use GetObjectAttributes with an Amazon SDK or CLI

// ! Routine which retrieves the hash value of an object stored in an S3 bucket.
/*!
   \param bucket: The name of the S3 bucket where the object is stored.
   \param key: The unique identifier (key) of the object within the S3 bucket.
   \param hashMethod: The hashing algorithm used to calculate the hash value of the object.
   \param[out] hashData: The retrieved hash.
   \param[out] partHashes: The part hashes if available.
   \param client: The S3 client instance used to retrieve the object.
   \return bool: Function succeeded.
*/
bool AwsDoc::S3::retrieveObjectHash(const Aws::String &bucket, const Aws::String &key,
                                    AwsDoc::S3::HASH_METHOD hashMethod,
                                    Aws::String &hashData,
                                    std::vector<Aws::String> *partHashes,
                                    const Aws::S3::S3Client &client) {
    Aws::S3::Model::GetObjectAttributesRequest request;
    request.SetBucket(bucket);
    request.SetKey(key);

    if (hashMethod == MD5) {
        Aws::Vector<Aws::S3::Model::ObjectAttributes> attributes;
        attributes.push_back(Aws::S3::Model::ObjectAttributes::ETag);
        request.SetObjectAttributes(attributes);

        Aws::S3::Model::GetObjectAttributesOutcome outcome = client.GetObjectAttributes(
                request);
        if (outcome.IsSuccess()) {
            const Aws::S3::Model::GetObjectAttributesResult &result = outcome.GetResult();
            hashData = result.GetETag();
        } else {
            std::cerr << "Error retrieving object etag attributes." <<
                      outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
            return false;
        }
    } else { // hashMethod != MD5
        Aws::Vector<Aws::S3::Model::ObjectAttributes> attributes;
        attributes.push_back(Aws::S3::Model::ObjectAttributes::Checksum);
        request.SetObjectAttributes(attributes);

        Aws::S3::Model::GetObjectAttributesOutcome outcome = client.GetObjectAttributes(
                request);
        if (outcome.IsSuccess()) {
            const Aws::S3::Model::GetObjectAttributesResult &result = outcome.GetResult();
            switch (hashMethod) {
                case AwsDoc::S3::DEFAULT: // NOLINT(*-branch-clone)
                    break;  // Default is not supported.
#pragma clang diagnostic push
#pragma ide diagnostic ignored "UnreachableCode"
                case AwsDoc::S3::MD5:
                    break;  // MD5 is not supported.
#pragma clang diagnostic pop
                case AwsDoc::S3::SHA1:
                    hashData = result.GetChecksum().GetChecksumSHA1();
                    break;
                case AwsDoc::S3::SHA256:
                    hashData = result.GetChecksum().GetChecksumSHA256();
                    break;
                case AwsDoc::S3::CRC32:
                    hashData = result.GetChecksum().GetChecksumCRC32();
                    break;
                case AwsDoc::S3::CRC32C:
                    hashData = result.GetChecksum().GetChecksumCRC32C();
                    break;
                default:
                    std::cerr << "Unknown hash method." << std::endl;
                    return false;
            }
        } else {
            std::cerr << "Error retrieving object checksum attributes." <<
                      outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
            return false;
        }

        if (nullptr != partHashes) {
            attributes.clear();
            attributes.push_back(Aws::S3::Model::ObjectAttributes::ObjectParts);
            request.SetObjectAttributes(attributes);
            outcome = client.GetObjectAttributes(request);
            if (outcome.IsSuccess()) {
                const Aws::S3::Model::GetObjectAttributesResult &result = outcome.GetResult();
                const Aws::Vector<Aws::S3::Model::ObjectPart> parts = result.GetObjectParts().GetParts();
                for (const Aws::S3::Model::ObjectPart &part: parts) {
                    switch (hashMethod) {
                        case AwsDoc::S3::DEFAULT: // Default is not supported. NOLINT(*-branch-clone)
                            break;
                        case AwsDoc::S3::MD5: // MD5 is not supported.
                            break;
                        case AwsDoc::S3::SHA1:
                            partHashes->push_back(part.GetChecksumSHA1());
                            break;
                        case AwsDoc::S3::SHA256:
                            partHashes->push_back(part.GetChecksumSHA256());
                            break;
                        case AwsDoc::S3::CRC32:
                            partHashes->push_back(part.GetChecksumCRC32());
                            break;
                        case AwsDoc::S3::CRC32C:
                            partHashes->push_back(part.GetChecksumCRC32C());
                            break;
                        default:
                            std::cerr << "Unknown hash method." << std::endl;
                            return false;
                    }
                }
            } else {
                std::cerr << "Error retrieving object attributes for object parts." <<
                          outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
                return false;
            }
        }
    }

    return true;
}

To retrieves metadata from an object without returning the object itself

The following get-object-attributes example retrieves metadata from the object doc1.rtf.

aws s3api get-object-attributes \
    --bucket my-bucket \
    --key doc1.rtf \
    --object-attributes "StorageClass" "ETag" "ObjectSize"

Output:

{
    "LastModified": "2022-03-15T19:37:31+00:00",
    "VersionId": "IuCPjXTDzHNfldAuitVBIKJpF2p1fg4P",
    "ETag": "b662d79adeb7c8d787ea7eafb9ef6207",
    "StorageClass": "STANDARD",
    "ObjectSize": 405
}

For more information, see GetObjectAttributes in the Amazon S3 API Reference.