apify/crawlee · error · Error

Request with GET method cannot have a payload.

Error message

Request with GET method cannot have a payload.

What it means

A GET request cannot carry a payload/body, so the Request constructor rejects the combination of method GET (explicit or the default) with a non-empty payload. HTTP semantics simply do not define a body for GET.

Source

Thrown at packages/core/src/request.ts:217

            keepUrlFragment = false,
            useExtendedUniqueKey = false,
            alwaysEnqueue = false,
            skipNavigation,
            enqueueStrategy,
            crawlDepth,
        } = options as RequestOptions & {
            loadedUrl?: string;
            retryCount?: number;
            sessionId?: string;
            errorMessages?: string[];
            handledAt?: string | Date;
        };

        let { method = 'GET' } = options;

        method = method.toUpperCase() as AllowedHttpMethods;

        if (method === 'GET' && payload) throw new Error('Request with GET method cannot have a payload.');

        if (uniqueKey && alwaysEnqueue) {
            throw new Error('`alwaysEnqueue` cannot be used together with a custom `uniqueKey`.');
        }

        this.id = id;
        this.url = url;
        this.loadedUrl = loadedUrl;
        this.uniqueKey =
            uniqueKey ||
            CrawleeRequest.computeUniqueKey({
                url,
                method,
                payload,
                keepUrlFragment,
                useExtendedUniqueKey,
                alwaysEnqueue,
            });

View on GitHub (pinned to dbe57fb09c)

Solutions

1. Change the method to POST (or PUT/PATCH) when sending a payload
2. Move the data into the URL query string if GET is required
3. Assert/validate that payload is undefined whenever method is GET

Example fix

// before
const request = new Request({ url: 'https://example.com/search', payload: { q: 'x' } });
// after
const request = new Request({ url: 'https://example.com/search', method: 'POST', payload: { q: 'x' } });

if ((method?.toUpperCase() ?? 'GET') === 'GET' && payload) throw new Error('GET cannot have a payload');

try {
  return new Request(opts);
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message.includes('GET method cannot have a payload')) {
    return new Request({ ...opts, method: 'POST' });
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: new Request({ url, payload, method: 'GET' }) or new Request({ url, payload }) omitting method (defaults to GET).

Common situations: Sending data via GET that should be a POST; forgetting that method defaults to GET when only payload is provided; building requests dynamically where method and payload drift out of sync.

Related errors

• `alwaysEnqueue` cannot be used together with a custom `uniqu
• RequestValidationError(label, result.issues)
• At most one of `body`, `form` and `json` may be specified in
• Failed to infer format from the path: '${path}'. Supported f
• Unsupported format: '${format}'. Use one of ${supportedForma

AI-assisted analysis of apify/crawlee@dbe57fb09c (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d97176ed986b7ca6. Report an issue: GitHub.