Catch an API that always answers 200 on failure

The status code says 200. The request failed.

Beginner to intermediateRead 5 minDoing: about 20 minutes with a terminal open6 steps

What you'll have at the end

A short written log of three failing calls against a real API, one with bad input, one for something that doesn't exist, one you have no permission to make, each row showing the exact status code and body that actually came back and whether it can be trusted.

Before you start

You need

Any live API you can send real requests to, your own project or one you're allowed to test freely, a command-line HTTP client already on your machine, and at least one way to trigger a call you know should fail.

Not covered

This does not cover fixing an API that does this, that's someone else's code to change, or building the defensive body check into a real client library; it only covers finding out whether the lie is happening and writing down proof.

Leans on

6 steps

Where to go next

Decode a failed status code

for when the status code itself is trustworthy and you just need to know what the exact number means.

Checked 18 Aug 2026

Part of the HTTP cookbook