HTTP 418 — I'm a Teapot
4xx Client Error
What it means
Defined in a 1998 April Fools' RFC for the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol. It is a joke that several frameworks implement anyway.
What to do about it
Nothing to fix. Attempts to remove it from libraries have been resisted with unusual vigour.
Where it sits
418 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/1.1 418 I'm a TeapotChecking 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 | No. Retrying an identical request will produce the same result — the request itself must change. |
| Effect on search indexing | No direct effect. |
Returning 418 correctly
# nginx
return 418;
# Express
res.status(418).json({ error: 'I'm a Teapot' });
# Go
w.WriteHeader(418)
# Python (Flask)
return jsonify(error='I'm a Teapot'), 418;Frequently asked questions
What does HTTP 418 mean?
Defined in a 1998 April Fools' RFC for the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol. It is a joke that several frameworks implement anyway.
How do I fix a 418 error?
Nothing to fix. Attempts to remove it from libraries have been resisted with unusual vigour.
Is 418 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.