Redirect: HTTP status codes 3xx
In the HTTP protocol used by the World Wide Web, a redirect is a response with a status code beginning with 3 that causes a browser to display a different page. If a client encounters a redirect, it needs to make a number of decisions how to handle the redirect. Different status codes are used by clients to understand the purpose of the redirect, how to handle caching and which request method to use for the subsequent request.
HTTP/1.1 defines several status codes for redirection (RFC 7231):
- 300 multiple choices (e.g. offer different languages)
- 301 moved permanently (redirects permanently from one URL to another passing link equity to the redirected page)
- 302 found (originally "temporary redirect" in HTTP/1.0 and popularly used for CGI scripts; superseded by 303 and 307 in HTTP/1.1 but preserved for backward compatibility)
- 303 see other (forces a GET request to the new URL even if original request was POST)
- 307 temporary redirect (provides a new URL for the browser to resubmit a GET or POST request)
- 308 permanent redirect (provides a new URL for the browser to resubmit a GET or POST request)
Status codes 304 not modified and 305 use proxy are not redirects.
| HTTP Status Code | HTTP Version | Temporary / Permanent | Cacheable | Request Method Subsequent Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | HTTP/1.0 | Permanent | Yes | GET / POST may change |
| 302 | HTTP/1.0 | Temporary | not by default | GET / POST may change |
| 303 | HTTP/1.1 | Temporary | never | always GET |
| 307 | HTTP/1.1 | Temporary | not by default | may not change |
| 308 | HTTP/1.1 | Permanent | by default | may not change |
All of these status codes require the URL of the redirect target to be given in the Location: header of the HTTP response. The 300 multiple choices will usually list all choices in the body of the message and show the default choice in the Location: header.
Example HTTP response for a 301 redirect
A HTTP response with the 301 "moved permanently" redirect looks like this:
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently Location: http://www.example.org/ Content-Type: text/html Content-Length: 174 <html> <head> <title>Moved</title> </head> <body>
Related terms
See also
- Web, Search engine, How to add Wikipedia as a Chrome search engine, URL redirection, List of HTTP status codes, HAR (file format), HTTP response status code, URL, URI, Web3, reCAPTCHA
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