REST Security Cheat Sheet - HTTP Return Code

▤ Summary

The article explains why HTTP status codes matter in REST APIs and how they help clients understand request outcomes. It walks through common success, client error, redirect, and server error codes and shows why teams should use the semantically correct code instead of defaulting to 200 or inventing custom codes. It also highlights operational benefits such as easier troubleshooting, clearer documentation, stronger security handling, and better support for long-running requests. The piece ends with best practices for consistency, testing, and documenting status code usage across APIs.

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