418
HTTPERRORCommon4xx Client ErrorHIGH confidence

I'm a teapot

Production Risk

Very Low. While not professional, it is harmless. Some automated clients may incorrectly interpret it as a generic 4xx error.

What this means

The server refuses the attempt to brew coffee with a teapot. This is a humorous April Fools' joke RFC from 1998 and is not intended to be implemented by actual HTTP servers.

Why it happens
  1. 1A client sends a request to a server that has implemented this joke status code.
  2. 2It is sometimes used by developers as a humorous way to reject a request they do not wish to handle.
  3. 3The request method was 'BREW' on a teapot resource.
How to reproduce

An developer, for fun, makes a 'BREW /coffee' request to a server that implements the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol.

trigger — this will error
trigger — this will error
BREW /coffee HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com

expected output

HTTP/1.1 418 I'm a teapot

Fix

Do Not Attempt to Brew Coffee

WHEN The server is a teapot.

Do Not Attempt to Brew Coffee
Consider requesting 'TEA' instead of 'COFFEE'.

Why this works

Philosophical Correction

What not to do

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