413 Payload Too Large (RFC 7231)
This is an educational reference page about HTTP 413 Payload Too Large. The page itself is served as 200 OK so it can be indexed as HTTP documentation.
The request is larger than the server is willing or able to process. Previously called "Request Entity Too Large".
What it means
HTTP 413 Payload Too Large means the request body is bigger than the server, proxy, or application is willing to process.
Common causes
- A file upload exceeds application or reverse-proxy limits.
- JSON, form data, or multipart payloads are larger than configured request limits.
- A CDN, load balancer, or API gateway rejects the body before it reaches the application.
Where you see it
- File upload forms, image processing APIs, import tools, and bulk JSON endpoints.
- Reverse proxies such as Nginx, CDNs, API gateways, and load balancers before the application.
- Applications that enforce per-route request size limits.
Headers involved
- Content-Length can let a server reject an oversized request before reading the whole body.
- Retry-After may be useful when a temporary server-side limit caused the rejection.
- Content-Type helps choose the parser but does not by itself control request size.
How to fix it
- Document upload and request-size limits in API docs and error responses.
- Increase body-size limits at every layer only when the service can safely process larger requests.
- Offer resumable uploads, chunked uploads, compression, or smaller request batches.
Client fixes
- Reduce file size, split the upload, compress the payload, or use a resumable upload flow.
- Check documented maximum body size before sending large requests.
- Avoid retrying the same oversized payload without changing it.
Server fixes
- Align CDN, proxy, framework, and application request-size limits.
- Return the maximum accepted size when it is safe to disclose.
- Use direct-to-storage uploads for large files instead of sending them through the application server.
Example response
HTTP/1.1 413 Payload Too Large
Content-Type: application/json
{"error":"payload_too_large","maxBytes":10485760}Developer notes
413 is usually returned before application validation runs. For valid-size bodies with semantic problems, use 422.
Questions
What does HTTP 413 mean?
HTTP 413 means the submitted request body or upload is larger than the server allows.
How do I fix 413 Payload Too Large?
Reduce the request size or raise the configured body-size limits in the proxy, gateway, and application.