Meilisearch uses the following standard HTTP codes for a successful or failed API request:

Status codeDescription
200✅ Ok Everything worked as expected.
201✅ Created The resource has been created (synchronous)
202✅ Accepted The task has been added to the queue (asynchronous)
204✅ No Content The resource has been deleted or no content has been returned
205✅ Reset Content All the resources have been deleted
400❌ Bad Request The request was unacceptable, often due to missing a required parameter
401❌ Unauthorized No valid API key provided
403❌ Forbidden The API key doesn’t have the permissions to perform the request
404❌ Not Found The requested resource doesn’t exist

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Errors

All detailed task responses contain an error field. When a task fails, it is always accompanied by a JSON-formatted error response. Meilisearch errors can be of one of the following types:

TypeDescription
invalid_requestThis is due to an error in the user input. It is accompanied by the HTTP code 4xx
internalThis is due to machine or configuration constraints. It is accompanied by the HTTP code 5xx
authThis type of error is related to authentication and authorization. It is accompanied by the HTTP code 4xx
systemThis indicates your system has reached or exceeded its limit for disk size, index size, open files, or the database doesn’t have read or write access. It is accompanied by the HTTP code 5xx

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Error format

{
  "message": "Index `movies` not found.",
  "code": "index_not_found",
  "type": "invalid_request",
  "link": "https://docs.meilisearch.com/errors#index_not_found"
}
FieldDescription
messageHuman-readable description of the error
codeError code
typeType of error returned
linkLink to the relevant section of the documentation

If you’re having trouble understanding an error, take a look at the complete list of code values and descriptions.

TEST RESPONSE FIELD COMPONENT

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message
string

Human-readable description of the error

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code
string

Error code

​
type
string

Type of error returned

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link
string

Link to the relevant section of the documentation

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