HTTP Status Code Reference

All standard HTTP status codes (1xx-5xx) with name and description.

Searchable list of every standard HTTP status code from 100 Continue to 511 Network Authentication Required. Filter by class (1xx informational, 2xx success, 3xx redirect, 4xx client error, 5xx server error) or search by code, name or description.

Common use cases

  • Decide between 401 Unauthorized vs 403 Forbidden in your API
  • Look up the meaning of an unusual code your monitoring just paged you about
  • Pick the right redirect code (301 vs 302 vs 307 vs 308)
  • Reference the difference between 422 Unprocessable Entity and 400 Bad Request

Frequently asked questions

Is 418 I'm a teapot a real status code?
It's defined by RFC 2324 (Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol) as an April Fool's joke and is widely supported by HTTP libraries — but real servers should not use it.
When should I return 422 vs 400?
400 Bad Request means the request was malformed at the protocol level (invalid JSON, etc.). 422 Unprocessable Entity means the syntax was fine but the data failed validation.
Is 308 Permanent Redirect different from 301?
Yes — 301 traditionally allowed clients to change the method to GET on redirect; 308 explicitly forbids that. Use 308 for permanent redirects of POST/PUT requests.

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