207 Multi-Status

HTTP 207 Multi-Status is a WebDAV response used when a single request performs several independent operations that can each succeed or fail on their own, and a single top-level status code cannot capture that. A PROPFIND against a collection, a batch COPY or MOVE across multiple resources, or a DELETE of a folder tree can each partially succeed, so instead of picking one overall status, the server returns 207 with an XML body listing every affected resource and the specific status that applied to it. This gives the client a complete, per-resource picture in one round trip rather than one ambiguous top-level code.

The response body is structured as a multistatus element containing one response element per resource, each carrying its own href and status, plus optional properties depending on the originating method. Because the outer HTTP status is always 207 regardless of whether every inner operation succeeded, clients must parse the body to know the real outcome; a 207 that reports every inner status as 200 is effectively a full success, while one mixing 200s with 403s or 424s indicates a partial failure that needs individual handling.

Outside dedicated WebDAV servers, 207 rarely appears, though the same pattern, an envelope status covering an array of per-item results, shows up informally in many bulk REST APIs that choose a custom JSON shape instead of WebDAV's XML format. Client libraries that only inspect the top-level HTTP status without parsing the multistatus body will incorrectly treat a batch with partial failures as a complete success, since 207 itself does not indicate which, if any, individual operations failed.