WHAT IT DOES
The status code, with the useful part around it.
Search HTTP status codes by number, family, or phrase and get a concise explanation of what the response class means, when the code is normally used, and which headers commonly matter beside it. The reference is a fixed browser-side registry of standard and registered codes, not a made-up list assembled from the search text.
Why use it?
Use it to distinguish the meaning of a response code from the application-specific reason a request failed.
How to use this tool
- Search a status number, family, or phrase; compare 401 and 403 when troubleshooting an access failure.
- Read the explanation and related header notes, then check the actual response and server logs. The reference explains a code but cannot determine why your server returned it.
Details and limitations
- The 1xx, 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, and 5xx families are separated so a search for a number can be narrowed without losing the status name.
- Each entry distinguishes the status meaning from practical guidance: a 401 response concerns authentication, while a 403 response means the server understood the request and refused it.
- Search is case-insensitive and matches the code, canonical name, family, and indexed explanation fields.
- The explorer does not infer a status from a URL, contact an API, or claim that a server uses a code correctly; it only explains the selected registry entry.
- Rare standard codes remain searchable beside common ones, while arbitrary numbers are reported as unknown rather than given an invented definition.