418 I'm a teapot

Asking a teapot to brew coffee results in the 418 I'm a teapot status code, an April Fools' joke from the IETF.

Table of Contents

Usage

The 418 I'm a teapot error message was designed as one of the IETF April Fools' jokes. The RFC states any teapot asked to brew coffee responds with this message. Specifically, the resulting message body is described as short and stout.

Although this status code is not used in production, many HTTP libraries support the code. An effort to remove this status code so the number is available for official use was met with resistance and led to the Save 418 initiative. The message and status code remain.

Status code reservation

The HTTP specification reserves status code 418 as "(Unused)" to avoid conflicts with widespread HTCPCP implementations.

SEO impact

Search engines like Google will not index a URL with a 418 I'm a teapot response status. URLs previously indexed will be removed from search results.

Example

The client requests coffee to be brewed, but the teapot objects.

Request

BREW coffee HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.re
Content-Type: message/coffeepot
Content-Length: 5

start

Response

HTTP/1.1 418 I'm a teapot
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 146

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Beverage not supported</title>
  </head>
  <body>
   <p>This is a teapot. Coffee is not supported.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Triggering a 418 response

A 418 response is returned only by servers configured to support the HTCPCP joke protocol or by applications explicitly returning this code. Google returns 418 at google.com/teapot as an easter egg. Many web frameworks allow returning 418 by setting the response status code directly. No standard HTTP server returns 418 without deliberate configuration.

History of 418

The status code originated in 1998 as part of an April Fools' Day specification for the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP). A companion specification extending HTCPCP for tea followed in 2014. When the IETF considered reclaiming the code for official use in 2017, the developer community objected and launched the Save 418 movement. The IETF ultimately reserved the code as "(Unused)" in the main HTTP specification.

Code references

.NET

StatusCodes.Status418ImATeapot

Rust

http::StatusCode::IM_A_TEAPOT

Go

http.StatusTeapot

Symfony

Response::HTTP_I_AM_A_TEAPOT

Python3.9+

http.HTTPStatus.IM_A_TEAPOT

Angular

@angular/common/http/HttpStatusCode.ImATeapot

See also

Last updated: April 4, 2026