Moved Permanently

Server perspective

Use 301 for permanent redirects when moving the resource for good and method preservation is not the main concern.

When to use

• •Return 301 for permanent content moves, canonicalization, and domain migrations
• •Prefer 308 instead when redirected POST, PUT, or PATCH requests must keep the same method and body
• •Permanent URL or domain migrations
• •Canonical URL changes such as path cleanup or site restructuring
• •Permanent redirects for GET/HEAD content where method rewriting is not a concern
• •Moving old documentation pages to durable replacement locations

How to respond

• •Include a Location header with the new URI
• •Keep the target stable so caches, crawlers, and clients are not whipsawed by conflicting permanent redirects

Headers to consider

• •Location
• •Cache-Control

Response body

• •A response body is optional, but the redirect target should be clear from the Location header

Server-side pitfalls

• •Do not use 301 when the move is only temporary
• •Do not assume every client will preserve POST on automatic redirects
• •Temporary redirects where the original URI should stay canonical
• •Non-GET requests where preserving the original method and body matters; use 308 instead
• •After a successful write where the follow-up should be a safe retrieval; use 303 See Other instead
• •Queued or asynchronous operations where the work has not yet completed; use 202 Accepted instead

Examples