Error Codes Wiki

HTTP 406 Not Acceptable — What It Means & How to Fix It

Error4xx client error

Overview

The HTTP 406 Not Acceptable status code indicates the server cannot produce a response matching the criteria specified in the request Accept headers.

Key Details

  • This occurs when content negotiation fails because the server cannot satisfy the Accept header requirements.
  • The client requested a content type or encoding the server does not support.
  • The server should list available representations in the response.
  • Common Accept headers include Accept, Accept-Language, Accept-Encoding, and Accept-Charset.

Common Causes

  • The Accept header requests a content type the server does not support.
  • Language negotiation via Accept-Language finds no matching content.
  • The client requires a specific encoding that the server cannot provide.

Steps

  1. 1Review the Accept headers in your request.
  2. 2Check the API documentation for supported content types.
  3. 3Try removing restrictive Accept headers to see the default response.
  4. 4Add support for common content types on the server.

Tags

httpclient-errornot-acceptablecontent-negotiation

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Frequently Asked Questions

It means the server cannot produce a response in any format acceptable to the client, as specified by the Accept headers in the request.