201 Created means the request has been fulfilled and has created one or more new resources. APIs typically return it after a POST to a collection or a PUT to a new URL. The main new resource is identified by the Location header, or by the request URL if there is no Location.
The body usually describes the new resource or links to it. Validators such as ETag in the response apply to the newly created representation, so the client can use them for later conditional requests.
Unlike in a 3xx response, a Location header in a 201 is not a redirect. Browsers and HTTP clients do not follow it automatically.
Example response
HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:15:32 GMT
Location: https://api.example.com/v1/orders/8412
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 30
{"id":8412,"status":"pending"}SEO and redirect checking
201 belongs to APIs and form handlers, not to pages that should be indexed. Crawlers that receive it treat it as a success, but a public page URL should return 200. After a form submission in the browser, the usual pattern is to answer with 303 See Other instead, so that reloading the result page does not submit the form again.
Common causes and use cases
- A REST API created a record (
POST /orders) and returns its URL inLocation. - A file was uploaded with
PUTto a URL that did not exist before. - A redirect check shows 201 for a URL you expected to be a page: the endpoint is an API, or the check used POST. Check the HTTP method in Advanced Settings.