4xx Client Errors
HTTP 413 Content Too Large
The request body is larger than the server is willing or able to process.
When is 413 used?
- File upload exceeds server limit
- Request body size limit exceeded
How to handle a 413 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 413 from your server
Node.js (Express)
res.status(413).json({ message: 'Content Too Large' });Python (Flask)
return {"message": "Content Too Large"}, 413Go (net/http)
w.WriteHeader(413)Frequently Asked Questions
What does HTTP 413 mean?
413 Content Too Large: The request body is larger than the server is willing or able to process.
Is 413 an error?
Yes. 413 is in the 4xx Client Errors class. Client errors: the request is malformed, unauthorized, or targets something that does not exist.