HTTP Response for Unsuccessful Handling of Request

Question

Let's say I have a REST POST end-point: www.foo.com/id/X where X represents a number.

My server-side pseudocode looks like this:

performIdLookup(int id) { 

  if ( idExists(id) ) {
     return toJson(lookup(id)) // returns 200/OK Status Code with object as JSON
  }
  else {
     return HTTP_???_error 
  }
}

Per this question, sending a 400 error doesn't seem right here since the user submitted a valid request, but the server couldn't locate it.

What's the right HTTP response here and why?

you should have 404 memorized by now - doing web development ;p — Scott Selby
– Scott Selby, Commented Jul 11, 2014 at 17:39
@ScottSelby 500 should not be non-authenticated. 500 Internal Server Error: " A generic error message, given when an unexpected condition was encountered and no more specific message is suitable." — user1907906
– user1907906, Commented Jul 11, 2014 at 17:41
@ScottSelby Since the response is JSON, this looks like a REST API. Redirecting is not a good idea for such a scenario. — user1907906
– user1907906, Commented Jul 11, 2014 at 18:04

score 5 · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-11 18:02:42Z

5

That is very easy.

404 Not Found

If there is no resourece at /id/42, a resource can not be found for this URL.

See the list of HTTP status codes.

edited Jul 11, 2014 at 18:02

answered Jul 11, 2014 at 17:38

user1907906

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3 Comments

Kevin Meredith Over a year ago

404 The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI I don't understand your answer wrt to this text. Is it because there's no resource living at an id of X?

Scott Selby Over a year ago

@KevinMeredith - you wrote " server couldn't locate it." that is exactly what 404 is for

Paddy Over a year ago

The server has not found anything matching the Request-UR(Resource)I(Identifier).

Paddy · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-11 17:40:52Z

1

Not 400 (bad request). But 404 (not found). Yes, 404 is not what we are used to watching in these cases, but you can add some custom information with response.

answered Jul 11, 2014 at 17:40

Paddy

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