4xx Client Errors

HTTP 414 URI Too Long

The request URI is longer than the server is willing to interpret.

When is 414 used?

  • Excessively long query strings
  • GET requests with large form data

How to handle a 414 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.com

How to return 414 from your server

Node.js (Express)

res.status(414).json({ message: 'URI Too Long' });

Python (Flask)

return {"message": "URI Too Long"}, 414

Go (net/http)

w.WriteHeader(414)

Frequently Asked Questions

What does HTTP 414 mean?

414 URI Too Long: The request URI is longer than the server is willing to interpret.

Is 414 an error?

Yes. 414 is in the 4xx Client Errors class. Client errors: the request is malformed, unauthorized, or targets something that does not exist.