4xx Client Errors
HTTP 408 Request Timeout
The server timed out waiting for the request from the client.
When is 408 used?
- Slow client connection
- Network issues causing delayed requests
- Server load balancing timeout
How to handle a 408 response
Inspect the request — URL, method, headers, credentials, and body. Retrying the same request unchanged will usually fail again; 429 is the exception, where you should wait for the Retry-After period.
Check the status code a URL returns from the command line:
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" https://example.comHow to return 408 from your server
Node.js (Express)
res.status(408).json({ message: 'Request Timeout' });Python (Flask)
return {"message": "Request Timeout"}, 408Go (net/http)
w.WriteHeader(408)Frequently Asked Questions
What does HTTP 408 mean?
408 Request Timeout: The server timed out waiting for the request from the client.
Is 408 an error?
Yes. 408 is in the 4xx Client Errors class. Client errors: the request is malformed, unauthorized, or targets something that does not exist.