308 Permanent Redirect

What HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect Means

The resource has permanently moved to another URL, and the request method should not change.

Permanent redirect that preserves the request method.

Common Causes

• Permanent URL change with method preservation
• HTTPS enforcement

What Visitors Should Do

• Update bookmarks
• Browser should cache redirect

Notes for Developers

• Use instead of 301 to preserve HTTP method
• Set Location header

308 vs 301 vs 307

Code	Permanent?	Method on redirect	Typical use
301	Yes	May change POST to GET	Moved pages, domain or HTTPS migrations
302	No	May change POST to GET	Short-term moves, login redirects
303	No	Always GET	Redirect after a form POST
307	No	Must keep method and body	Temporary moves of APIs or forms
308	Yes	Must keep method and body	Permanent moves of APIs or forms

RFC 9110 allows clients to switch a POST to GET on a 301 or 302 for historical reasons, which is why 307 and 308 exist.

How to Send a 308

# Nginx
location /api/v1/ { return 308 /api/v2/; }

Returning a 308 Permanent Redirect (Code Examples)

If you build APIs or web apps, here is how to send an HTTP 308 response and how to test for it:

Node.js (Express)

app.get('/resource', (req, res) => {
  res.status(308).json({ error: 'Permanent Redirect' });
});

Python (Flask)

@app.route('/resource')
def resource():
    return jsonify(error='Permanent Redirect'), 308

PHP

<?php
http_response_code(308);
header('Content-Type: application/json');
echo json_encode(['error' => 'Permanent Redirect']);

Check the status with curl

curl -I https://example.com/resource
# Look for: HTTP/1.1 308 Permanent Redirect

Frequently Asked Questions

What does HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect mean?

Permanent redirect that preserves the request method. In short: The resource has permanently moved to another URL, and the request method should not change.

How should I handle an HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect response?

Use instead of 301 to preserve HTTP method. Set Location header.

Official Specification

The 308 Permanent Redirect status code is defined in RFC 9110 Section 15.4.9 (originally RFC 7538).

View the IANA HTTP Status Code Registry →