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301 Moved Permanently

301 identifies a preferred permanent target and permits historical method rewriting for POST.

Difficulty
intermediate
Published
July 13, 2026
Last reviewed
Review due
  • status codes
  • redirects

Meaning

301 Moved Permanently indicates that the target resource has a new permanent URI. A server normally sends Location so a client can select the new target.

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://example.invalid/manual/current
Content-Length: 0

Expected result: a redirect-capable client can request the Location target and can update stored links when appropriate. The response does not guarantee that the new target returns success.

Method behavior

For historical reasons, a user agent may change POST to GET when following 301. Use 308 Permanent Redirect when automatic following must preserve the original method and content.

Caching

301 is heuristically cacheable. A client or intermediary can therefore reuse an old permanent redirect after the server-side rule changes; inspect cache evidence when a redirect appears stuck.

Primary sources