Failed Dependency

Overview

424 Failed Dependency means the request could not be performed because another action it depended on failed first. In WebDAV batch or chained operations, if an earlier step fails, the dependent later steps are marked with this code.

For example, in a request that processes several resources, if one resource fails with 423 Locked, the actions that assumed its success are reported as 424 — typically as per-item statuses inside a 207 Multi-Status response.

When it happens

• A preceding step in a WebDAV batch fails, cascading to later steps
• In a multi-resource request, one resource's failure blocks processing of others
• Part of a transaction-like group of actions was invalidated

Request / Response example

COPY /a/locked.txt HTTP/1.1
Host: dav.example.com
Destination: /b/copy.txt
(part of a batch where a prior action failed)

HTTP/1.1 207 Multi-Status
Content-Type: application/xml

<D:multistatus xmlns:D="DAV:"><D:response><D:status>HTTP/1.1 424 Failed Dependency</D:status></D:response></D:multistatus>

In code

// If an earlier step failed, mark the dependent step 424 in a batch
for (const step of batch) {
  if (previousFailed) {
    results.push({ step: step.id, status: 424 });
    continue;
  }
  const ok = run(step);
  if (!ok) previousFailed = true;
}

Notes

• 424 is not a root cause itself but a consequence of another failure — fix the real failing item in the batch, not the 424 entry.
• Some ordinary REST batch endpoints borrow this code to report dependency failures across grouped sub-requests.

Related status codes

Specification