HTTP 422 Unprocessable Entity

What Does HTTP 422 Mean?

HTTP 422 Unprocessable Entity (WebDAV) indicates that the server understands the content type and syntax of the request, but is unable to process the contained instructions. The request is well-formed but semantically invalid.

HTTP 422 is commonly used in REST APIs for validation errors. While 400 indicates malformed syntax, 422 means the syntax is correct but the data is invalid: missing required fields, invalid field values, or business logic violations. For example, creating a user with an invalid email format.

Many REST APIs use 422 to distinguish between syntactic errors (400) and semantic/validation errors (422). Rails, Laravel, and other frameworks use 422 for validation failures. The response body should detail which fields failed validation and why.

Common Causes of 422 Unprocessable Entity

The request is syntactically valid but contains semantic errors. Common causes: validation failures (invalid email, phone number format), missing required fields, invalid field values, business rule violations, and data integrity constraint violations.

The response body should detail which fields failed validation and the specific error messages.

How to Fix 422 Unprocessable Entity

Review the validation errors in the response body and correct the invalid data. Check required fields, data formats, and value constraints. For API users: compare your request against the API documentation's schema requirements.

Common fixes: use correct email format, ensure dates are in the expected format, and provide all required fields.

Related Status Codes

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