Lysergid comments on What is your preferred API error response and why?

What is your preferred API error response and why? (lemy.lol)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by iso@lemy.lol to c/programming@programming.dev

89 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I prefer simplicity and using the first example but I'd be happy to hear other options. Here's a few examples:

HTTP/1.1 403 POST /endpoint
{ "message": "Unauthorized access" }

HTTP/1.1 403 POST /endpoint
Unauthorized access (no json)

HTTP/1.1 403 POST /endpoint
{ "error": "Unauthorized access" }

HTTP/1.1 403 POST /endpoint
{
  "code": "UNAUTHORIZED",
  "message": "Unauthorized access",
}

HTTP/1.1 200 (🤡) POST /endpoint
{
  "error": true,
  "message": "Unauthorized access",
}

HTTP/1.1 403 POST /endpoint
{
  "status": 403,
  "code": "UNAUTHORIZED",
  "message": "Unauthorized access",
}

Or your own example.

[–] Lysergid@lemmy.ml -2 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

REST calls are same as in 2001. There is no REST 2.0 or REST 2024. Because REST is architecture guideline. It’s just more data sent over it today. HTTP code IS code. Why your system issued it is implementation detail and have nothing to do with resource representation. Examples you provided are not 403. “Too many users active” does not exist in REST because REST is stateless, closest you can get is “too many requests” - 429. Insufficient permissions is 401. I don’t even know what is “blocked by security” but sounds like 401 too. Regardless, you should not provide any details on 401 or 403 to client as it is security concern. No serious app will tell you “password is wrong” or “user does not exist”. Maximum what client should hope for is input validation errors in 400.

For those with “internal tool, I don’t care” argument - you either do not know what security in depth is or you don’t have 403 or 401 scenario in the system in the first place.

Now hear me out, you all can do whatever you want or need with your API. Have state, respond with images instead of error codes, whatever, but calling it REST is wrong by definition

permalink

fedilink

source

parent

hideshow 2 child comments

[–] huginn@feddit.it 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Theory is fine but in the real world I've never used a REST API that adhered to the stateless standard, but everyone will still call it REST. Regardless of if you want it or not REST is no longer the same as it's original definition, the same way nobody pronounces gif as "jif" unless they're being deliberately transgressive.

403 can be thrown for all of those reasons - I just grabbed that from Wikipedia because I was too lazy to dig into our prod code to actually map out specifics.

Looking at production code I see 13 different variations on 422, 2 different variations of 429...

permalink

fedilink

source

parent

hideshow 4 child comments