HTTP Cat API

Beginner's Pick Animals / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS CORS

Free to Use Varies (check documentation)

92 A+

Metadata Score Metadata estimate · not endpoint-tested

Visit Official Site Compare Alternatives

Overview

HTTP Cat returns a cat-themed image for any HTTP status code via a simple URL pattern. No auth needed—just use https://http.cat/404 as an img src for playful error pages.

Beginner Tip

This is an image API, not JSON. The response is a JPEG—use the URL as an img src attribute rather than trying to parse it as JSON.

Available Data

cat image URLs

breed information

cat-specific data

Use case: Integrate cat for every http status data into web and mobile applications

Example Response

JSON Response

{
  "name": "HTTP Cat",
  "data": "HTTP Cat-specific information and attributes",
  "source": "HTTP Cat"
}

Field Reference

(image binary) JPEG image of a cat themed around the HTTP status code—use the URL directly as an img src

Implementation Example

Request

const url = "https://http.cat/";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Trying to JSON.parse the response Expecting JSON but the API returns image/jpeg content type

✓ Use the URL directly as an image source in an img tag

404 for obscure status codes Not all HTTP status codes have a cat image available

✓ Test your status code first; fall back to 200 or 404 if the code has no image

Image blocked by CSP Content Security Policy blocking external image sources

✓ Add http.cat to your CSP img-src directive or download images to serve locally

Metadata Score Breakdown

Estimated from metadata — endpoint not independently tested

This score is estimated from observable metadata — HTTPS support, authentication model, declared CORS, and documentation reachability — because the API requires authentication or exposes no publicly testable endpoint. The five-signal breakdown is only shown for live-tested APIs.

Metadata estimate · endpoint not independently tested

How is this scored? →