HTTP 200 OK

What It Means

The HTTP 200 OK status code indicates that the request has succeeded. The meaning of "success" depends on the HTTP method:

• GET: The resource was fetched and transmitted in the message body
• POST: The resource describing the result of the action is transmitted in the message body
• PUT/PATCH: The resource was successfully updated

When to Use 200

Use 200 OK when:

• Returning data from a GET request
• A POST/PUT/PATCH successfully modified a resource and you're returning the updated data
• A search query returns results (even if empty)

200 vs Other Success Codes

Example Response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Cache-Control: max-age=3600

{
  "id": 123,
  "name": "Example Resource",
  "status": "active"
}

Best Practices

• Always include a response body for GET requests
• Set appropriate Cache-Control headers for cacheable responses
• Use 201 instead of 200 when creating new resources
• Use 204 instead of 200 when there's no content to return