6 ms·

Error 418 – I'm a Teapot

22 points by siliconmountain 6y ago

easton 6y ago
Google has a fun version of this: https://google.com/teapot https://google.com/teapot
hbcondo714 6y ago
Lots of http 418 discussions here already: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=418 https://hn.algolia.com/?q=418
Waterluvian 6y ago
I tried using overstock.com yesterday and after visiting four or five pages all subsequent requests returned a blank page with a 418 error. Even on a different computer. Same thing. Even when I tried a different internet source. I assume it was some server session error because my friends weren't having the issue. But the 418 was a useless error code to report.
- lmm 6y ago
  All the HTTP error codes are like that. There are hundreds of them, but they're not specific enough to actually tell you what went wrong without site-specific information.
  - paledot 6y ago
    Which is why REST APIs should just accept that the only two error codes that matter are 400 Your Fault and 500 My Fault. Too much ambiguity when you try to shoehorn meaning into responses like 401 and 404.
infradig 6y ago
But it's not an error. It really is a teapot.
- DoctorOW 6y ago
  Exactly. Making it invalid for brewing coffee. The error is specifically for rejecting a BREW request sent to a teapot.
  - dylan604 6y ago
    Hmmm, I thought I brewed tea all of the time. Should I be sending a STEEP command instead? I haven't read the docs on how to properly make a cup of tea.
    - soneil 6y ago
      Might Sir be interested in ISO3103? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3103 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3103 )
      - dylan604 6y ago
        Why yes. Very much so indeed. I don't know why (actually I do), but I read that in the voice of Stephen Fry.
- easton 6y ago
  It is an error as error 418 is returned if you attempt to communicate with a teapot over the "Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol", which, as the name implies, is only to be used to talk to coffee pots[0]. The protocol was extended in 2014 for teapot compatibility[1]. 0: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2324 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2324 1: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7168 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7168
- whbrown 6y ago
  400s are user errors ;)
spc476 6y ago
I have a gopher server [1] that kept getting requests from some webbot. So I extended the gopher server to respond to any HTTP style request with "418 I'm a teapot". Sure enough, the webbot stopped making requests shortly thereafter. [1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/
qwaxys 6y ago
But what if it IS an actual IoT teapot? https://templates.blakadder.com/proficook_PC-WKS_1167.html https://templates.blakadder.com/proficook_PC-WKS_1167.html

easton 6y ago

Google has a fun version of this: https://google.com/teapot https://google.com/teapot

hbcondo714 6y ago

Lots of http 418 discussions here already: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=418 https://hn.algolia.com/?q=418

Waterluvian 6y ago

I tried using overstock.com yesterday and after visiting four or five pages all subsequent requests returned a blank page with a 418 error. Even on a different computer. Same thing. Even when I tried a different internet source. I assume it was some server session error because my friends weren't having the issue. But the 418 was a useless error code to report.

lmm 6y ago
All the HTTP error codes are like that. There are hundreds of them, but they're not specific enough to actually tell you what went wrong without site-specific information.
- paledot 6y ago
  Which is why REST APIs should just accept that the only two error codes that matter are 400 Your Fault and 500 My Fault. Too much ambiguity when you try to shoehorn meaning into responses like 401 and 404.

infradig 6y ago

But it's not an error. It really is a teapot.

DoctorOW 6y ago
Exactly. Making it invalid for brewing coffee. The error is specifically for rejecting a BREW request sent to a teapot.
- dylan604 6y ago
  Hmmm, I thought I brewed tea all of the time. Should I be sending a STEEP command instead? I haven't read the docs on how to properly make a cup of tea.
  - soneil 6y ago
    Might Sir be interested in ISO3103? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3103 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3103 )
    - dylan604 6y ago
      Why yes. Very much so indeed. I don't know why (actually I do), but I read that in the voice of Stephen Fry.
easton 6y ago
It is an error as error 418 is returned if you attempt to communicate with a teapot over the "Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol", which, as the name implies, is only to be used to talk to coffee pots[0]. The protocol was extended in 2014 for teapot compatibility[1]. 0: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2324 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2324 1: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7168 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7168
whbrown 6y ago
400s are user errors ;)

spc476 6y ago

I have a gopher server [1] that kept getting requests from some webbot. So I extended the gopher server to respond to any HTTP style request with "418 I'm a teapot". Sure enough, the webbot stopped making requests shortly thereafter. [1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/

qwaxys 6y ago

But what if it IS an actual IoT teapot? https://templates.blakadder.com/proficook_PC-WKS_1167.html https://templates.blakadder.com/proficook_PC-WKS_1167.html