seanmonstar/reqwest · error · reqwest::Error

error following redirect

Error message

error following redirect

What it means

The `Kind::Redirect` error from `error::redirect(...)` (error.rs:364-366). It fires when the redirect policy itself errors — most often because the redirect `Location` has a disallowed scheme, the redirect chain exceeds the limit (default 10), or a redirect loop is detected.

Source

Thrown at src/error.rs:365

pub(crate) fn body<E: Into<BoxError>>(e: E) -> Error {
    Error::new(Kind::Body, Some(e))
}

pub(crate) fn decode<E: Into<BoxError>>(e: E) -> Error {
    Error::new(Kind::Decode, Some(e))
}

pub(crate) fn request<E: Into<BoxError>>(e: E) -> Error {
    Error::new(Kind::Request, Some(e))
}

pub(crate) fn dns<E: Into<BoxError>>(e: E) -> BoxError {
    Box::new(DnsError { inner: e.into() })
}

pub(crate) fn redirect<E: Into<BoxError>>(e: E, url: Url) -> Error {
    Error::new(Kind::Redirect, Some(e)).with_url(url)
}

pub(crate) fn status_code(
    url: Url,
    status: StatusCode,
    #[cfg(not(all(target_arch = "wasm32", any(target_os = "unknown", target_os = "none"))))] reason: Option<hyper::ext::ReasonPhrase>,
) -> Error {
    Error::new(
        Kind::Status(
            status,
            #[cfg(not(all(
                target_arch = "wasm32",
                any(target_os = "unknown", target_os = "none")
            )))]
            reason,
        ),
        None::<Error>,
    )

View on GitHub (pinned to 17e9bcb51c)

Solutions

1. Inspect `e.url()` to see where the redirect chain stopped.
2. Raise the limit via `Client::builder().redirect(Policy::limited(20))` if the chain is legitimately long.
3. If the issue is an https→http downgrade, decide explicitly: allow it with `Policy::default()` or keep https-only and fail.
4. For custom policies, return `Policy::stop()` instead of `Policy::error(...)` to keep the last response rather than erroring.

Example fix

// before
let client = Client::builder().build()?; // default limit 10
let r = client.get(url).send().await?; // 'error following redirect' on long chain

// after
let client = Client::builder()
    .redirect(reqwest::redirect::Policy::limited(30))
    .build()?;
let r = client.get(url).send().await?;

// Pre-validate redirect tolerance for known chains.
let client = Client::builder()
    .redirect(reqwest::redirect::Policy::limited(max_hops_for(url)))
    .build()?;

fn is_redirect_error(e: &reqwest::Error) -> bool { e.is_redirect() }

let resp = match client.get(&url).send().await {
    Ok(r) => r,
    Err(e) if e.is_redirect() => {
        log::warn!("redirect stopped at {:?}", e.url());
        return Err(e.into());
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
};

When it happens

Trigger: A `Location` response header pointing to a non-http(s) scheme on an https-only client (redirect.rs:325-328 wraps `url_bad_scheme`); more than `redirect(Policy::limit(n))` hops; a self-referential redirect loop; a custom `RedirectPolicy` returning `Policy::error(...)`.

Common situations: Site redirects from https to http while the client is https-only; infinitely redirecting auth flow; CDN redirect chain deeper than the default 10; custom policy enforcing allow-lists that rejects a target.

Related errors

• error sending request
• HTTP/3 only supports 'https' or 'h3' schemes, got: {}
• error sending request
• builder error
• request or response body error

AI-assisted analysis of seanmonstar/reqwest@17e9bcb51c (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/31054cf682b5045e.json. Report an issue: GitHub.