HTTP 403 or 406 for post requirements violation?

Question

Simple question:

I have a POST endpoint which expects some text input. The text input must not be longer than x characters. If it is I'll respond with an error message.

But which HTTP status code will be the correct one?

0.4.4 403 Forbidden

The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it. Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be repeated. [..]

10.4.7 406 Not Acceptable

The resource identified by the request is only capable of generating response entities which have content characteristics not acceptable according to the accept headers sent in the request.

10.4.18 417 Expectation Failed

The expectation given in an Expect request-header field [..] could not be met by this server [..]

Source: w3.org

**400 Bad Request** The request could not be understood by the server due to malformed **syntax**. The name makes sense, the description kinda does not apply tho :| — boop, Dec 17 '15 at 07:40
Your argumentation is kinda floppy. It explicitly says **syntax**. But this is probably stuff for hours of discussion. I'll accept it as answer ;) — boop, Dec 17 '15 at 08:03

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

3

I guess that's existed question. Shortly the proper HTTP Code is 400 + optional description.

You can checkout more detailed answer here: REST HTTP status codes for failed validation or invalid duplicate

edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

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answered Dec 17 '15 at 07:43

Andriy Ivaneyko

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HTTP 403 or 406 for post requirements violation?

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