412

412 Precondition Failed Error

Category: HTTP Errors | Platforms: apache nginx

What This Error Means

The 412 Precondition Failed error indicates that one or more conditions given in the request header fields evaluated to false when tested on the server. This is often used with 'If-Match' or 'If-None-Match' headers for caching or concurrency control.

Common Causes

  • The client is trying to update a resource that has changed since it was last retrieved (optimistic locking failure).
  • Browser cache is out of sync with the server.
  • Incorrect ETag usage.

How to Fix It (For Users)

  1. 1 Clear your browser cache.
  2. 2 Refresh the page to get the latest version of the resource.

For Site Owners / Developers

  1. Ensure your application handles ETags and conditional requests correctly.
  2. Check your caching logic.
  3. If using a CDN, ensure it is not serving stale headers.

When It Is NOT Your Fault

If the server's implementation of conditional requests is buggy.

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