What HTTP status code should one use for invalid input

Question

In my web service I am processing input as json. What is the correct HTTP status code to use when the provided input is invalid, particularly for PUT and POST requests?

The only response code I can find that seems to apply is "400 Bad Request", but maybe there is something better?

I actually have two possibly different specific cases of this question:

a) The server doesn't like the JSON input because the attributes/ values cannot be accepted, or
b) The server cannot parse the JSON formatted input because the data is not correctly formatted as JSON.

Example: If the server expects

{ 
  "POSTDATA": {
     "val1":"123", 
     "val2":"xyz"
   }
}

and the client gives something we don't know what to do with

{ 
    "val1":"bar", 
    "val2":"biz"
}

or the client gives something borked, eg

{
"valA":"123",
skjfhasklfhakppffffzzzzz....

What to do?

I think this might elicit some strong opinions on different sides. I don't think a Bad Request code is appropriate, as that to me suggests that the HTTP request is bad - which it is not. I suspect others will disagree strongly. I'm not sure I'll put it on-hold as such just now, though; maybe there's a strong standard here? — Andrew Barber
– Andrew Barber, Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 14:13
Your first error example would be a candidate for 422 Unprocessable Entity — Alex K.
– Alex K., Commented Nov 6, 2014 at 14:16

Amjad Alwareh · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-10 11:01:57Z

1

415 Unsupported media type. The origin server is refusing to service the request because the payload is in a format not supported.

answered Sep 10, 2019 at 11:01

Amjad Alwareh

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The Tahaan Over a year ago

I don't like this. If the request specified application/text and the server requires application/json, then Yes 415 is the correct response. But if the application provides invalid json, but correctly specifies application/json, then the response should not be "try another media type" which is what I understand 415 to mean, it should say "your media type is correct but the data is corrupted / invalid. So I have eventually just settled on 400 invalid request. The only issue is that I use the same code for an invalid request taht is invalid based on business requirements.

Mike Fahy · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-02 15:03:03Z

0

This is an ancient question now, but for what it's worth: Today (thanks to WebDAV http extensions), this error can best be served with a 422 (Unprocessable Entity) error code, as the format and syntax are correct, but the data itself cannot be used for its intended purpose.

answered Sep 2, 2022 at 15:03

Mike Fahy

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