Does Google treat 308 like 301?
Yes. Google has said it treats 308 the same as 301 for indexing and passing ranking signals, so either works for permanent moves of web pages.
HTTP 308 PERMANENT REDIRECT
A permanent redirect that keeps the method and body. 308 belongs to the 3xx redirection class and is defined in RFC 9110.
Loading the workbench.
About HTTP 308
What Does HTTP 308 Permanent Redirect Mean?
A permanent redirect that keeps the method and body. The code is registered with IANA and defined in RFC 9110.
Redirection: the client must take another step to finish the request. Every code from 300 to 399 shares that general meaning, so a client that does not recognise 308 must treat it like 300.
When Do You See a 308 Response?
308 Permanent Redirect is the method-preserving partner of 301. The resource has moved for good, and clients must resend the same method and body to the new URL. It suits APIs and form endpoints that receive POST, PUT, or PATCH, and it is increasingly used for ordinary page moves too, since browsers and search engines treat it like a 301 for ranking purposes. It is cacheable by default, like 301.
How Do You Handle a 308?
Send a Location header with the new permanent URL and redirect directly to the final destination. Confirm the target handles every method clients may send, because they will repeat it there. Very old clients from before RFC 7538 (2015) may not understand 308; if you must support those, fall back to 301 for GET-only resources. Plan carefully, since browsers can cache a 308 for a long time.
What Does a 308 Response Look Like?
HTTP/1.1 308 Permanent Redirect
Location: https://api.example.com/v2/orders
Content-Length: 0308 is cacheable by default under RFC 9110: a browser or CDN may store it and reuse it even without explicit freshness headers, using a heuristic lifetime. Send Cache-Control to say exactly how long.
To inspect a real one without sending it anywhere:
- Copy the response headers from your browser Network tab, or from
curl -i. - Paste them into the Header decoder to see every header explained.
- Check caching in the Cache lane and the Location target in the decoder.
Which Status Codes Are Related to 308?
- 301 Moved Permanently: The resource has a new permanent URL. Search engines move ranking to it. Clients may change POST to GET.
- 307 Temporary Redirect: A temporary redirect that keeps the method and body: a POST stays a POST.
- 410 Gone: Removed on purpose and not coming back. Search engines drop it faster than a 404.
Browse every code on the HTTP status codes page.
What Other Lanes Are in the Reference Section?
- HTTP status codes: Every IANA-registered status code, with a page per code.
- MIME types: File extensions to Content-Type, searchable both ways, plus a Content-Type parser.
- HTTP methods: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE and the rest: safe, idempotent, cacheable.
Elsewhere in 2http: Header decoder, Cookie decoder, Cache-Control decoder, CORS checker, User-agent parser, and all eleven lanes on the 2http home page. Part of the 2suite.io privacy-first ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I prefer 308 over 301?
Whenever the redirected URL may receive non-GET requests, such as API endpoints or form targets, because 308 forbids clients from switching POST to GET.
Is HTTP 308 an error?
No. 308 is a redirection response, not an error.
Is a 308 response cacheable by default?
Yes. RFC 9110 lists 308 as heuristically cacheable, so caches may store it without explicit headers. Use Cache-Control to control how long.
How Can You Verify That Nothing Leaves This Browser?
You do not have to take our word that your headers stay here. Developer tools show every request a page makes, so you can watch this page work and confirm that nothing is sent. The check takes under a minute.
- Open your browser developer tools with
F12, orCmd+Option+Ion a Mac, and select the Network tab. - Reload the page and let it finish. You will see the page's own files, its web fonts, and one anonymous page-view request. Nothing has been typed yet, so none of them can contain your headers.
- Click the clear icon in the Network tab so that the log is empty.
- Paste real headers into any lane and read the result.
- Look at the Network tab again. It is still empty. For extra proof, turn on offline mode after the page loads and every lane keeps working.
Only two things can add a line to that log, and neither carries your headers. Submitting the feedback form sends the vote and comment you typed. Typing characters in a script the page has not displayed yet, such as Cyrillic or Greek, can make the browser fetch the matching font file, and that request names only the font.
2http never sends a request on your behalf: the request builder writes code for you to run, and the meta inspector reads source you paste instead of fetching a URL. The production site also sends a Content-Security-Policy header that tells your browser to refuse connections to anywhere except this site and the anonymous analytics endpoint.