ErrorFindly
4154xx Client ErrorMedium

HTTP 415 Unsupported Media Type

Defined in RFC 7231

What Does HTTP 415 Mean?

The server refuses to accept the request because the payload format is not supported.

Common Causes

  1. 1Wrong Content-Type header (e.g., sending text/plain instead of application/json)
  2. 2Uploading unsupported file format
  3. 3Missing Content-Type header
  4. 4API doesn't accept the submitted data format

Impact

  • ⚠Upload or submission rejected
  • ⚠API request fails

Developer Fix

For web developers and application engineers

  1. 1Set correct Content-Type header matching the body format
  2. 2Check API documentation for accepted content types
  3. 3Convert data to a supported format before sending

Server Admin Fix

For system administrators and DevOps engineers

  1. 1Document supported content types in API responses
  2. 2Return Accept header listing supported types in error response
  3. 3Add support for common content types

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between 415 and 406?
415 means the server can't process the format you sent (Content-Type). 406 means the server can't produce a response in the format you requested (Accept header). 415 is about input, 406 is about output.
How do I fix a 415 error?
Check your Content-Type header matches what the server expects. For JSON APIs, use Content-Type: application/json. For file uploads, use multipart/form-data.

Related HTTP Status Codes

400Bad Request406Not Acceptable

About the Author

Web Infrastructure Team

Verified against official RFC specifications and real-world server configurations. HTTP status code behavior confirmed across Apache, Nginx, and Cloudflare.