invalidrequest

Invalidrequest is a term used in computing to describe a client-originated request that cannot be processed by a server or service because of errors in the request itself. In many protocol and API implementations, an invalid request corresponds to a bad or malformed input that violates syntax, structure, or business rules. The phrase is often associated with the HTTP 400 Bad Request status, though other protocols may define their own equivalents.

In practice, invalidrequest arises when the client sends data that the server cannot interpret or accept. Common causes include malformed request syntax, missing or invalid parameters, data types or value ranges that do not conform to the API’s specification, unsupported methods or content types, and improper or absent authentication tokens where required. Different systems may also flag oversized payloads, invalid headers, or body content that fails validation schemas as invalidrequest conditions. Some APIs distinguish between syntactic errors (400) and semantic validation failures (often 422 Unprocessable Entity).

Handling invalidrequests involves validation and debugging steps. Clients should consult the service’s API documentation to ensure proper endpoints, methods, headers, and payload formats. Tools such as curl or HTTP clients can help verify request structure, while server logs and error messages reveal which parameter or rule failed. Implementations often provide structured error responses with codes, messages, and field-specific details to aid remediation.

See also: Bad Request, 422 Unprocessable Entity, INVALID_ARGUMENT, Request validation.