HTTP 408 — Request Timeout
4xx Client Error
What it means
The client took too long to send the complete request and the server gave up waiting.
What to do about it
Usually a slow or dropped connection. Check for a large upload over a poor network, or a client that opened a connection and never sent anything.
Where it sits
408 belongs to the 4xx family: The request contains something the server will not or cannot process. The fix is normally on the client side.
HTTP/1.1 408 Request TimeoutChecking it yourself
# see the status code and headers only
curl -sI https://example.com/path
# follow redirects and print each hop
curl -sIL -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} %{url_effective}\n" https://example.com/path
# JavaScript
const r = await fetch(url);
console.log(r.status, r.statusText);How this code behaves
| Cacheable by default | No — caches must not store this response unless explicit cache headers permit it. |
| Safe to retry | Yes, with backoff. This is a transient condition; retrying the same request is reasonable. |
| Effect on search indexing | No direct effect. |
Returning 408 correctly
# nginx
return 408;
# Express
res.status(408).json({ error: 'Request Timeout' });
# Go
w.WriteHeader(408)
# Python (Flask)
return jsonify(error='Request Timeout'), 408;Frequently asked questions
What does HTTP 408 mean?
The client took too long to send the complete request and the server gave up waiting.
How do I fix a 408 error?
Usually a slow or dropped connection. Check for a large upload over a poor network, or a client that opened a connection and never sent anything.
Is 408 a client or server problem?
A client problem by definition — the request needs to change. That said, a 4xx can still be the server’s fault if it is misconfigured and rejecting valid requests.