415 Unsupported Media Type

The 415 Unsupported Media Type status code indicates the client made a request with a Content-Type or Content-Encoding that is unknown or invalid for the resource.

Writing responses (servers)

Servers should produce 415 Unsupported Media Type in two cases:

Unknown Content-Encoding

If the resource exists and the request is understood and authorized, but the server does not understand the Content-Encoding applied to the message, then return 415 Unsupported Media Type and an Accept-Encoding header listing the content codings that the server is capable of decoding.

Unknown Content-Type

If the resource exists and the request is understood and authorized, and the server understands the content coding, but does not understand the request Content-Type, or the request Content-Type is not valid for the resource, then return 415 Unsupported Media Type along with a message describing acceptable media types.

Unexpected message body

If the method/resource does not permit a message body at all, see 413 Payload Too Large instead.

Reading responses (clients)

Clients should handle 415 Unsupported Media Type with the following process:

1. Look for an Accept-Encoding header. If present, and the initial coding does not appear, re-make the request with a different Content-Encoding from codings listed in Accept-Encoding.

If the request is a PATCH request, look for the Accept-Patch header. If present, and the attempted media type does not appear in this list, try to re-make the request with one of the listed media types.

2. Otherwise, re-make the request with a different Content-Type and/or method. Show the user the returned error page and prompt them to re-make the request with a different upload media type.

Overview table

Name

415

Message

415 Unsupported Media Type

Description

The Content-Encoding or Content-Type is not acceptable.

Specification

RFC 7231: HTTP/1.1 Semantics and Content §6.5.13. 415 Unsupported Media Type

Example

HTTP/1.1 415 Unsupported Media Type