HTTP Status Code Lookup

Report an Issue

Help us improve by telling us what went wrong.

Embed this Tool

Customize and copy the embed code for your website.

You're reading server logs and you see a 502. Or your fetch call returns a 422 and you're not sure what you did wrong. Or a client reports getting a 403 and you need to explain what that means in terms they'll understand. The HTTP Status Code Lookup tool is a quick-reference guide for every status code from 1xx to 5xx, with plain-English descriptions and practical examples of when each code appears.

Every Code From 100 to 599, Explained

HTTP status codes are grouped into five classes, and each class tells a different story about what happened to your request:

1xx - Informational. These are rare in everyday development but important in certain contexts. 100 Continue tells the client to keep sending the request body. 101 Switching Protocols is what happens during a WebSocket handshake. 103 Early Hints lets servers push preload directives before the final response. Most developers go years without seeing a 1xx code in the wild, but when you encounter one, this lookup explains exactly what's happening.

2xx - Success. The happy family. 200 OK is the one everyone knows, but there are important distinctions. 201 Created means a resource was successfully created (POST requests). 204 No Content means success but there's nothing to send back (common for DELETE). 206 Partial Content shows up during range requests, like when a video player streams chunks of a file.

3xx - Redirection. 301 and 302 are the famous ones, but getting them wrong has real consequences. A 301 is permanent - browsers and search engines will cache it and never check the old URL again. A 302 is temporary. Confusing them can tank your SEO or break bookmark functionality. 304 Not Modified is the caching code - the server is saying "nothing changed since you last checked, use your cached copy." The HTTP status code lookup explains these nuances clearly.

4xx - Client Errors. This is where debugging gets interesting. 400 Bad Request means you sent something the server can't parse. 401 Unauthorized means you need to authenticate. 403 Forbidden means you're authenticated but not authorised - you proved who you are, but you don't have permission. 404 Not Found is self-explanatory but still the most common support ticket in existence. 422 Unprocessable Entity is the validation error code that Laravel developers see constantly. 429 Too Many Requests means you've hit a rate limit.

5xx - Server Errors. These are the scary ones because they mean something went wrong on the server side. 500 Internal Server Error is the generic "something broke" code. 502 Bad Gateway means a proxy or load balancer got a bad response from the upstream server. 503 Service Unavailable means the server is overloaded or down for maintenance. 504 Gateway Timeout means the upstream server didn't respond in time.

Why Developers Need This

Memorising all HTTP status codes is unnecessary - knowing where to look them up quickly is what matters. During active debugging, you don't want to leave your terminal to Google "what does 507 mean." This HTTP status code lookup gives you the answer immediately: 507 is Insufficient Storage (a WebDAV extension code). Search, read, get back to work.

For Non-Developers Too

Product managers, QA testers, technical writers, and support engineers all encounter HTTP status codes. When a tester files a bug report saying "I got a 409," being able to look up that 409 means Conflict (usually a resource version mismatch) helps everyone communicate more precisely. When a client asks "what does this error mean," you can give them a real answer instead of vaguely saying "something went wrong."

The tool includes examples and context for each status code - not just the one-line RFC definition, but practical explanations of when you'll actually encounter each code and what to do about it. It's the HTTP reference you'll actually use.