---
title: "Answer with the right status code · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/api-design/resources-and-methods/status-codes
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Answer with the right status code

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Resources and methods](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/api-design/resources-and-methods)
- Rule: Pick the status code that matches what happened. Never answer 200 with an error inside the body.
- How: Follow the table below, from RFC 9110 and RFC 6585. Use 5xx only for faults on your side, never for bad input. When two codes could fit, pick the more specific one.
- Check: A contract test sends a malformed body, a missing token, a token without access, an unknown ID and a valid create. It gets 400, 401, 403, 404 and 201 with `Location`, in that order.

Example:

| Code | When |
| --- | --- |
| 200 | A read or update that returns a body |
| 201 | A create, with a `Location` header pointing to the new resource |
| 202 | Work accepted but not done yet |
| 204 | Success with no body |
| 400 | A body that does not parse, such as broken JSON, or a bad query or path parameter |
| 401 | Credentials missing, expired or wrong |
| 403 | Valid credentials that may not do this |
| 404 | Unknown resource, or one the caller may not know exists |
| 409 | Conflict with the current state, such as a duplicate |
| 412 | An `If-Match` precondition failed |
| 415 | A body in a media type you don't accept |
| 422 | A body that parses but breaks the schema or a rule, such as an unknown field, a wrong type or a value out of range |
| 429 | Too many requests |
| 500 | An unexpected fault in your code |
| 503 | Temporarily unavailable, with `Retry-After` |

```http
POST /orders HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/json

{"items":[{"sku":"TEA-01","quantity":2}]}

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: /orders/ord_8f2k
```

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers api design playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/api-design/resources-and-methods/status-codes`.

- Previous: [Use each method for what it means](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/api-design/resources-and-methods/http-methods)
- Next: [Return 405 with the allowed methods](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/api-design/resources-and-methods/method-not-allowed)
- [Resources and methods](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/api-design/resources-and-methods)