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Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty · Part I

Troubleshooting Flows

10% of Part I — the final Part I section

Troubleshooting Flows

Sub-topic 3: HTTP Error Codes

3 sub-topics · this deck covers sub-topic 3 of 3

↑ Module Overview

The Scenario

"Many action cards in Workflows include a Status Code output field that indicates the success or failure of a specific process in an active flow." That output is one of the standard HTTP response status codes used by the connector the card talks to. Okta groups these into five categories: Informational, Successful, Redirects, Client errors, and Server errors.

Client vs. Server Errors — The Codes That Matter Most

The full reference lists every standard code (100s through 500s); the ones you'll actually see on a failing card cluster in the 4xx and 5xx ranges:

CodeTitleMeaning
400Bad RequestMalformed request syntax or framing — a client-side mistake.
401UnauthorizedRequest lacks valid authentication credentials for the resource.
403ForbiddenServer understood the request but refuses to authorize it.
404Not FoundOrigin server found no current representation for the target resource.
409ConflictRequest conflicts with the current state of the resource; may be resolvable and resubmitted.
429Too Many RequestsRate limiting — client sent too many requests in a given time.
500Internal Server ErrorServer hit an unexpected condition preventing the request from completing.
502Bad GatewayServer, acting as gateway/proxy, got an invalid response from an inbound server.
503Service UnavailableServer temporarily can't handle the request (overload or maintenance).
504Gateway TimeoutServer, acting as gateway/proxy, didn't get a timely response from an upstream server.

The Other Three Categories

Informational (1xx) — e.g. 100 Continue, 101 Switching Protocols: interim signals that a request is still being processed.

Successful (2xx) — e.g. 200 OK, 201 Created, 204 No Content: the request succeeded; the exact meaning depends on the HTTP method used.

Redirects (3xx) — e.g. 301 Moved Permanently, 304 Not Modified: the target resource lives somewhere else, or the cached copy is still valid.

The Connection

This closes the loop from sub-topic 2: an API error is what happens when a card's output is one of these status codes and the operation failed. Sub-topic 1 taught you to repair a flow that won't save; sub-topic 2 taught you to read a runtime error; this sub-topic gives you the vocabulary to interpret exactly what a failing card's HTTP status code is telling you about where the failure actually occurred — your side (4xx) or the connector's side (5xx).

The Angle — What Trips People Up

Watch for this in your own build:

→ Confusing 401 and 403. A 401 means the request itself lacks valid credentials (check the connection/auth setup); a 403 means the server understood exactly who you are and still refuses — that's a permissions problem on the connected app's side, not a credentials problem in Okta Workflows.

One Line To Remember

A card's Status Code output is a standard HTTP response code from the connector: 4xx means the request itself was the problem (401 = bad credentials, 403 = valid credentials but not authorized, 404 = not found, 429 = rate limited); 5xx means the problem is on the server/connector side (500 = unexpected server error, 503 = temporarily unavailable, 504 = upstream timeout).

Sources: help.okta.com — ext-http-status-codes

✓ Troubleshooting Flows — 3 of 3 sub-topics complete · Part I complete