A header compression indicator may be used to enable header compression between a device and a gateway and between end devices in a network of constrained devices. The header compression indicator may be used to signal that header compression is in use, along with which context is to be used, and parameters thereof. The header compression indicator may also be used to trigger creation, update, retrieval, or deletion of a header compression context dynamically. A header context data format may be used to convey the encoding of header option information and corresponding data used in the management of the header compression contexts. Header compression contexts may be created, modified, queried, or deleted dynamically via existing messaging frameworks and operations, e.g., by appending a header compression indicator to existing standard messages.