REST response code for invalid data

http rest jax-rs
Amit Patel picture Amit Patel · May 25, 2011 · Viewed 189.5k times · Source

What response code should be passed to client in case of following scenarios?

  1. Invalid data passed while user registration like wrong email format
  2. User name/ Email is already exists

I chose 403. I also found following that I feel can be used.

Wikipedia:

412 Precondition Failed : The server does not meet one of the preconditions that the requester put on the request

Suggest code if I should use other than 403.

Answer

Darrel Miller picture Darrel Miller · May 25, 2011

400 is the best choice in both cases. If you want to further clarify the error you can either change the Reason Phrase or include a body to explain the error.

412 - Precondition failed is used for conditional requests when using last-modified date and ETags.

403 - Forbidden is used when the server wishes to prevent access to a resource.

The only other choice that is possible is 422 - Unprocessable entity.

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