208 Already Reported 2xx
Used inside a 207 Multi-Status response to avoid repeatedly enumerating the same resource bound to multiple locations.
What does 208 mean?
208 Already Reported is a status value that appears inside a 207 Multi-Status response body — it's not something that appears as the overall HTTP status code of a response, but rather as one of the per-item status values within a 207's structured list. It means: "this particular resource was already reported earlier in this same multi-status response, so we're not going to repeat its full details again."
This addresses a specific edge case in WebDAV's binding extensions (RFC 5842), where a single underlying resource can be reachable via multiple different bindings/paths (essentially, the same resource having multiple "names" or locations within a collection structure). If an operation enumerates a collection and the same underlying resource is encountered multiple times (via different bindings), repeating its full property listing each time would be redundant — 208 lets the response say "this is the same thing you already saw, just noting it's also reachable here" without repeating everything.
How 208 behaves
- It only appears within a 207 response's body, never as a standalone top-level HTTP status
- It indicates de-duplication, not an error or a different kind of success — the resource itself was processed/reported successfully; 208 just avoids redundant repetition of that reporting
- It's tied to WebDAV's "binding" concept — multiple names/paths for the same underlying resource within a collection
Common scenarios
If you're building the API or website:
- You're implementing WebDAV with support for bindings (multiple paths to the same resource) and performing operations (like
PROPFIND) on collections that might contain the same resource multiple times via different bindings — 208 lets you avoid redundant data in the response - For the vast majority of modern APIs (which don't implement WebDAV bindings), 208 simply isn't relevant
If you're calling an API:
- If working with a WebDAV system that supports bindings, and parsing 207 responses, you might encounter 208 entries — these represent "this resource, already detailed above, is also reachable via this additional path" rather than new information to process
If you're a website visitor:
- Not applicable — deeply protocol/implementation-specific
207 vs 208
| 207 Multi-Status | 208 Already Reported | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it appears | As the overall HTTP status code of a response | As a per-item value within a 207 response's body |
| What it means | "This response contains multiple individual results" | "This specific item was already fully detailed earlier in this same response — here it is again, but don't expect new details" |
Real-world examples
WebDAV's "BIND" extension (RFC 5842) allows a single resource to have multiple names/locations within a server's namespace — analogous to hard links in a filesystem, where one file can be accessible via multiple paths. When enumerating a collection that contains such bindings, 208 prevents the same underlying resource's full property set from being redundantly repeated for each binding encountered, keeping 207 responses more compact in these edge cases.
SEO implications
None — 208 is an extremely specific WebDAV-binding-related detail with no bearing on general web content or APIs.
FAQ
Will I ever encounter 208 outside of WebDAV?
Essentially never — it's specifically tied to WebDAV's binding extensions (RFC 5842), a niche feature even within WebDAV itself, which is already a relatively niche protocol extension compared to general REST API usage.
Is 208 an error?
No — it indicates successful de-duplication within a 207 response, not any kind of failure. The resource was successfully processed; 208 just avoids repeating its full details a second time within the same response.
What is a "binding" in WebDAV?
A mechanism allowing a single underlying resource to be accessible via multiple distinct paths/names within a server's namespace — conceptually similar to hard links in a filesystem, where multiple directory entries can point to the same underlying file.
How does 208 relate to 207?
208 only has meaning within a 207 response — it's one of the possible per-item status values that can appear in a 207's structured list of results, specifically for the "already covered this resource above" case.
Is 208 likely to be relevant to typical REST API design?
No — typical REST APIs don't implement WebDAV's binding concept, and the scenario 208 addresses (the same resource appearing multiple times in an enumeration due to multiple bindings) simply doesn't arise in conventional API designs where each resource has one canonical path.
Fun fact
208 might be the most narrowly-scoped status code in the entire registry — its entire purpose only makes sense in the context of another status code's response body (207), within a feature (WebDAV bindings) that itself represents a niche extension to an already-niche protocol, making it a fitting "final" entry in any truly exhaustive tour of HTTP status codes: a piece of the specification addressing a real but extremely specific edge case, precisely defined, and almost never encountered in practice.