HTTP 204 No Content

HTTP 204 No Content indicates the server successfully processed the request and returned a final response. It confirms transport-level success for this request, but it does not guarantee business-level correctness, cacheability, or that downstream side effects completed.

Try it (live endpoint)

Response includes the status code, standard headers (including Content-Type), and a small diagnostic JSON body describing the request and returned status.

curl -i "https://httpstatus.com/api/status/204"
Try in playground

Meaning

The server successfully processed the request and is not returning any content.

What it guarantees
  • The server accepted the request and produced a final response.
  • There is intentionally no response body.
What it does NOT guarantee
  • The underlying business operation is correct across all downstream systems.
  • The response is cacheable unless headers explicitly allow it.
  • A client will receive a response body.

When to use this status

  • PUT/PATCH updates succeed and you intentionally return no representation.
  • DELETE succeeds and there is no payload to return.
  • State-change endpoints where clients don’t need a response body.

When NOT to use this status (common misuses)

Returning 200 for partial failures or errors embedded only in the body.
Clients and monitors treat it as success; failures become silent and harder to alert on.
Returning 200 for creation instead of 201 with Location.
Clients lose a reliable created-resource identifier; SDK behavior becomes inconsistent.
Returning 200 for async acceptance instead of 202.
Clients assume the work is complete and proceed incorrectly.
Returning a response body with 204.
Some clients/proxies mis-handle it; connection reuse and serializers can break.

Critical headers that matter

Content-Type
Defines how clients parse the body.
Clients mis-parse payloads; SDKs and browsers apply wrong decoding.
Cache-Control
Controls cacheability and revalidation.
CDNs/browsers cache dynamic data or fail to cache static content.
ETag / Last-Modified
Enables conditional requests and revalidation.
Unnecessary bandwidth; poor cache consistency.
Content-Length
Should typically be 0 for no-body responses.
Some clients wait for bytes or mis-handle connection reuse.

Tool interpretation

Browsers
Treats as success; caches/revalidates based on headers and validators.
API clients
Deserializes per Content-Type; conditional requests use validators when implemented.
Crawlers / SEO tools
Indexes depending on headers and canonical stability; caches behavior via validators and cache directives.
Uptime monitors
Typically marks success; advanced checks may flag header anomalies or latency.
CDNs / reverse proxies
Caches/revalidates based on Cache-Control, ETag, and Vary; compression and content-type affect behavior.

Inspector preview (read-only)

On this code, Inspector focuses on semantics, headers, and correctness warnings that commonly affect clients and caches.

Signals it will highlight
  • Status semantics vs method and body expectations
  • Header sanity (Content-Type, Cache-Control, Vary) and evidence completeness
Correctness warnings
  • Body present with 204 is incorrect and may break clients/proxies.

Guided Lab outcome

  • Reproduce HTTP 204 No Content using a controlled endpoint and capture the full exchange.
  • Practice distinguishing status semantics from transport issues (redirects, caching, proxies).

FAQ

Should clients retry on HTTP 204?
Usually no—treat it as a successful final response unless your domain requires revalidation.
Is HTTP 204 cacheable?
Only if Cache-Control/validators allow it. Do not assume cacheability from the status alone.
Which headers matter most for HTTP 204?
Content-Type and Cache-Control are the baseline. Some codes also require Location, WWW-Authenticate, or Retry-After.
How does this affect monitoring?
Monitors usually mark success; use payload/latency checks for correctness.
How does this affect crawlers/SEO?
SEO impact is driven mostly by cacheability, canonical stability, and content correctness.
What should error responses include?
If a body is returned, keep it consistent and typed via Content-Type.

Client expectation contract

Client can assume
  • A final HTTP response was produced and processed by the server.
Client must NOT assume
  • The change is durable across all downstream systems.
Retry behavior
Retries are generally unnecessary; treat as final unless domain rules require revalidation.
Monitoring classification
Success
Use payload and header checks to avoid false positives; cacheability depends on Cache-Control/ETag/Vary.

Related status codes

203 Non-Authoritative Information
The request was successful, but the enclosed payload has been modified by a transforming proxy from the origin server's 200 (OK) response.
205 Reset Content
The server successfully processed the request, asks that the requester reset its document view (e.g., clear a form for new input), and is not returning any content.
200 OK
The request has succeeded.
202 Accepted
The request has been accepted for processing, but processing is not complete. Often used for asynchronous operations or batch processing.
304 Not Modified
Indicates that the resource has not been modified since the version specified by the request headers (If-None-Match or If-Modified-Since). The client should use its cached copy.