HTTP Status Codes

HTTP status codes are three-digit numbers returned by a server in response to a client's request. They indicate whether the request was successful, resulted in a redirect, encountered a client error, or caused a server error. They are defined in the HTTP specification (RFC 9110) and are fundamental to how the web works.

401 Unauthorized means the request lacks valid authentication credentials — the client has not proven its identity. 403 Forbidden means the client's identity is known (they may be authenticated) but they do not have permission to access the requested resource. In short: 401 = "who are you?", 403 = "I know who you are, but you can't do this."

Use 301 Moved Permanently when a page has permanently moved to a new URL and you want search engines to transfer ranking signals. Use 302 Found for temporary redirects where the original URL will eventually be available again (e.g., A/B tests, maintenance pages). For method-preserving redirects, prefer 308 (permanent) or 307 (temporary).

429 indicates that you have exceeded the rate limit set by the server. Most APIs include a Retry-After header telling you how many seconds to wait before trying again. Check the API's documentation for its specific rate limits and implement exponential backoff in your client code.

Yes and no. It was defined in RFC 2324 as part of the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol, an April Fools' joke from 1998. It is not expected to be implemented by actual HTTP servers, but many real applications include it as an Easter egg. Google famously implements it at google.com/teapot.

Absolutely. This tool is a purely client-side reference that runs entirely in your browser. It does not send any data to external servers, does not use cookies, and does not collect any analytics on your search queries. Your searches stay on your machine.