HTTP 303 See Other

Overview

The HTTP 303 See Other status code is used to redirect clients to a different URI, typically after a PUT or POST operation, suggesting that the client should perform a GET request to the provided URI.

Purpose

The HTTP 303 response is primarily used to prevent clients from re-submitting a form when refreshing a web page. It indicates that the response to the request can be found at a different URI and should be retrieved using a GET method.

Usage

Client Behavior:

Send Request: The client sends a PUT or POST request to a resource.
Receive Response: The client receives the HTTP 303 status code, directing it to a different URI where the response can be found.

Server Behavior:

Process Request: The server processes the PUT or POST request.
Send Response: The server sends a 303 See Other response, providing the URI where the client should now perform a GET request.

Scenarios

Form Submissions: Commonly used after a form submission to redirect clients, preventing form re-submission on refresh.
Resource Creation: After creating a resource with POST, redirecting to a page showing the creation result.

Sequence Diagram

Illustrating the process for an HTTP 303 response:

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client
    participant Server as Web Server

    Note over Client: Client submits data via POST
    Client->>Server: POST /submit-data HTTP/1.1
    Note over Server: Server processes data
    Server->>Client: HTTP/1.1 303 See Other
    Server->>Client: Location: /confirmation-page

Curl Request and Response Example

Sending a POST request using Curl and being redirected with a 303 response:

curl -i -X POST -d "data=example" http://example.com/submit-data
# Expected response: HTTP/1.1 303 See Other
# Location: http://example.com/confirmation-page

PHP cURL Request and Response Example

PHP script using cURL to handle a POST request followed by a 303 redirection:

<?php
$ch = curl_init('http://example.com/submit-data');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, array('data' => 'example'));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
if (curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE) == 303) {
    $newUrl = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_REDIRECT_URL);
    echo "See other page at: " . $newUrl;
}
curl_close($ch);
?>

Python Request and Response Example

Python script to send a POST request and handle a 303 See Other response:

import requests
response = requests.post('http://example.com/submit-data', data={'data': 'example'})
if response.status_code == 303:
    print("See other page at:", response.headers['Location'])

Apache Configuration for HTTP 303 See Other

Configuring Apache to handle a 303 redirection after a POST operation:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example.com
    # Redirect after a POST request
    <Location "/submit-data">
        Redirect 303 /confirmation-page
    </Location>
</VirtualHost>

NGINX Configuration for HTTP 303 See Other

Setting up NGINX to handle a 303 redirection following a POST request:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    location /submit-data {
        return 303 http://example.com/confirmation-page;
    }
}

HTTP 302 Found HTTP 304 Not Modified