200 OK
The request succeeded. The result meaning depends on the HTTP method.
Meaning & Description
The meaning of a success depends on the HTTP request method: - GET: The resource has been fetched and is transmitted in the message body. - HEAD: The representation headers are included in the response without any message body. - POST: The resource describing the result of the action is transmitted in the message body. - TRACE: The message body contains the request message as received by the server.
Common Causes
- Normal, successful operation.
How to fix a 200 error
- No debugging required. This is the desired outcome.
Browser & SEO Behaviour
Browser Behavior
Browsers render the response body (HTML, images, etc.) or expose it to JavaScript via Fetch/XHR.
SEO Impact
Excellent. Google expects 200 OK for all canonical pages you want indexed.
Code Examples
app.get('/api/users', (req, res) => {
const users = [{ id: 1, name: 'Alice' }];
// Express sends 200 OK by default when using res.send or res.json
res.json(users);
});@app.get("/api/users")
def get_users():
# FastAPI returns 200 OK by default
return [{"id": 1, "name": "Alice"}]Raw HTTP Response Example
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Mon, 23 May 2026 22:38:34 GMT
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
Content-Length: 138
<html>...</html>Frequently Asked Questions
Is 200 OK always the right response for success?
Not always. While 200 OK is the standard success response, you should use 201 Created when a resource has been successfully created (e.g., via POST), and 204 No Content when the request succeeded but there is no data to return.
Should I return 200 OK with an error message in the body?
No, this is an anti-pattern. If a request fails, you should return an appropriate 4xx or 5xx status code. Returning 200 OK for errors confuses clients and breaks caching and monitoring mechanisms.