status Registered
Verified 2026-09-18 · registry updated 2025-09-15

HTTP 404 Not Found

The server cannot find the requested resource or is unwilling to disclose that it exists.

Return 404 when the requested URL or resource does not exist.

httpstatus codeerrorsrouting

JSON error (json)

{
  "error": "not_found",
  "message": "The requested resource was not found"
}

A 404 means the server has no current representation for the target resource. It does not necessarily mean the server is unavailable.

For an authenticated resource that exists but the caller must not know that fact, some APIs intentionally return 404 instead of 403 to avoid leaking information.

Common mistakes

  • Returning 200 with an error object for a missing resource.
  • Using 404 for temporary server failures; use 5xx for those.

Registry reference: RFC9110, Section 15.5.5

Permalink: https://merginit.com/reference/http/status-404