HTTP 308 Error – What It Is and How to Fix It

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HTTP 308 Error – What It Is and How to Fix It

HTTP status codes are essential tools for diagnosing issues between clients and servers. One such lesser-known, yet necessary status code is HTTP 308 (Permanent Redirect). If you’ve encountered this status or need to understand its implications, this article explains everything you need to know. We’ll cover what it is, when it occurs, and how to resolve or configure it.

What Is the HTTP 308 Error Status Code?

HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect indicates that the resource the client is trying to access has been permanently moved to a new URL. When faced with an HTTP 308 error, the client should use the same request method and body when requesting the resource from the new URL.

This is in contrast to the 301 Status code “Moved Permanently,” where, if the initial request was POST, the browser can redirect the request to GET, for example. If this was not intended, then data can be lost from the POST method.

The 308 Permanent Redirect ensures that if the POST method was used in the initial Request, then when the 308 redirect occurs, the HTTP method remains the same. It will be the POST method again for the new URL. This can be helpful for form submissions or APIs. It’s through understanding these processes that developers can appropriately handle HTTP 308 error occurrences.

Other differences between the 307 and 302 redirects are that the 308 is a permanent redirect. Meanwhile, the 307 and 302 status codes are used for temporary redirects. It is also worth mentioning that the 308 Redirect allows caching, which the clients can perform. Here is an example of how you can test with the curl command, and it should return:

curl -i https://httpbingo.org/status/308
HTTP/1.1 308 Permanent Redirect

And if you want to follow the redirect, you can use the -L flag:

curl -i -L https://httpbingo.org/status/308
HTTP/1.1 308 Permanent Redirect
access-control-allow-credentials: true
…
location: /image/jpeg
date: Tue, 24 Jun 2025 13:15:20 GMT
…
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
308 redirect in webservers

308 redirect in web servers

The first step is to check your server for redirect rules in the configuration files for Apache or Nginx.

For Apache, you can check in .htaccess or virtualhost files:

Redirect permanent /old-path https://example.com/new-path

Apache may also use 301 redirects by default. Therefore, you may need custom rules for the HTTP 308 error redirect. For Nginx, the 308 error would look something like this:

return 308 https://example.com/new-path;

If the 308 redirect is not expected, you can check for the following issues:

  1. Avoid Redirect Loops
    – Make sure the new URL doesn’t redirect back to the original.
    – Check for misconfigured rewrite rules or logic errors.
  2. Inspect Your Client Requests
    – If you’re working with APIs and encountering a 308 error unexpectedly, inspect headers such as Location. Confirm you’re handling redirects properly in your HTTP client. You can use curl, fetch, or requests for testing.
  3. Debug with Developer Tools
    – Use browser dev tools (Network tab) to trace redirects.
    – For the command line, you can use the command:
curl -I -L https://example.com/your-url

When Is the 308 Error Used?

  1. SEO URL Changes
    When a website permanently changes its structure or URL paths (e.g., from /blog/post1 to /articles/post1), a 308 ensures that search engines retain indexing. It maintains correct request behavior when facing an http 308 error.
  2. REST APIs
    API endpoints may move, and a 308 ensures clients using POST/PUT requests continue to work properly. They do so without accidentally downgrading the method to GET.
  3. Load Balancers or Gateways
    Infrastructure like NGINX or HAProxy may use 308 to redirect requests consistently. They preserve request semantics, thus avoiding unexpected HTTP 308 error messages.

How to Prevent Future 308 Redirect Issues?

– Document your URL changes.
– Use proper 308 redirects when method preservation is a concern.
– Update client applications to support permanent redirects.
– Avoid chaining multiple redirects.

Conclusion

The HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect is a crucial HTTP status code for developers. It is particularly important when migrating or restructuring web resources. When configured correctly, it ensures a seamless user experience while maintaining important HTTP semantics. If you’re dealing with 308 errors, the key is understanding your server’s redirect configuration. You must ensure it aligns with your content architecture and client expectations. In dealing with an http 308 error, recognizing and resolving configuration issues is essential. If you need help resolving similar issues, feel free to submit a ticket, and our system administrators will assist you. You just need to sign up for one of our NVMe VPS hosting plans and submit a support ticket. We are available 24/7.

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