501 Not Implemented

The server does not support the functionality required to fulfill the request — classically, an HTTP method it doesn't implement at all (as opposed to 405: method known, not allowed on this route). In practice it also appears from gateways for unsupported features.

What usually causes it

  • Exotic HTTP methods against servers that never implemented them
  • Gateways/proxies encountering transfer features they don't support
  • Stub endpoints deliberately returning 501 during phased rollouts

How to debug and fix it

  1. Check the method spelling and whether the API actually documents it.
  2. If you own the server and use 501 as 'coming soon', document it — clients treat 501 as permanent and won't retry.

Easily confused with