424 - Failed Dependency
HTTP 424 Failed Dependency means the request could not complete because a dependent action failed first.
Last reviewed: February 5, 2026|Editorial standard: source-backed technical guidance
What Does Failed Dependency Mean?
This operation depends on another step that failed, so the dependent action is aborted to prevent inconsistent workflow state.
Common Causes
- -Batch operation dependency chain aborts when first WebDAV sub-operation fails, so subsequent steps are marked failed.
- -Orchestrator cancels child step because prerequisite inventory reservation call returned non-success status.
- -Pipeline action depends on earlier artifact upload that failed checksum validation, propagating dependency failure.
How to Fix Failed Dependency
- 1Identify the prerequisite action that failed before the dependent request.
- 2Fix the upstream dependency failure and rerun the workflow in order.
- 3Add fail-fast guards so dependent steps stop after prerequisite failures.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis for Failed Dependency
- 1Capture workflow execution logs and locate the exact prerequisite step that failed first.
- 2Correlate request IDs across orchestrator, queue, and downstream services in the same transaction chain.
- 3Validate dependency contracts, step ordering, and compensation behavior for partial failures.
- 4Retest by replaying the dependency chain from the failed prerequisite onward.
Dependency Graph and Step-Order Validation
- -Trace directed dependency order (example: publish step executed before required validation step completed).
- -Inspect per-step output contracts (example: downstream step expects artifact ID, upstream failure returned null placeholder).
Orchestration Failure Propagation and Compensation
- -Audit fail-fast behavior (example: orchestrator continued dependent tasks after prerequisite timeout).
- -Verify compensation/rollback handlers (example: step rollback failed, leaving chain in partial state and triggering repeated 424).
Implementation Examples
curl -i -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/resource -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{"sample":true}"
# Response:
# HTTP/1.1 424 Failed Dependency
# {"error":"Failed Dependency","code":"424"}const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/v1/resource', {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Accept': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({ sample: true })
});
if (response.status === 424) {
console.error('Handle 424 Failed Dependency');
}import requests
response = requests.post(
'https://api.example.com/v1/resource',
headers={'Accept': 'application/json', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
json={'sample': True}
)
if response.status_code == 424:
print('Handle 424 Failed Dependency')How to Verify the Fix
- -Re-run the workflow and confirm dependent steps no longer return 424.
- -Validate traces show prerequisite completion before dependent execution.
- -Track dependency-chain error metrics to confirm sustained recovery.
How to Prevent Recurrence
- -Model dependencies explicitly and enforce deterministic execution order.
- -Implement compensation handlers for prerequisite failures.
- -Add integration tests that assert dependent-step suppression on failures.
Pro Tip
- -annotate a machine-readable
failed_prerequisite_stepfield so clients and operators can immediately jump to root cause instead of debugging the blocked step.
Decision Support
Compare Guide
HTTP 400 vs 422: Bad Request vs Unprocessable Content
Fix API payload issues faster by using 400 for malformed syntax and 422 for semantic validation failures, so clients correct format before business rules.
Playbook
CORS Error Fix Playbook (Preflight / Origin / Credentials)
Use this playbook to separate browser-enforced cross-origin policy failures from server-side CORS header and route defects and apply strict origin and credential controls safely.
Playbook
Validation Failure Playbook (400 / 422 / INVALID_ARGUMENT)
Use this playbook to separate malformed-request failures from semantic validation failures, then fix request contracts without broad server-side bypasses.
Official References
Provider Context
This guidance is specific to HTTP services. Always validate implementation details against official provider documentation before deploying to production.