Why 200 response codes are not always okay

Modern systems' complexity challenges the reliability of HTTP response codes as sole indicators of system health, especially the assumption that 200 response codes always signify success. While codes in the 400s and 500s generally indicate problems, 200 codes can be misleading due to their dependency on the context defined by client-server agreements, making them unreliable for observability. This issue arises when custom error pages or APIs, like GraphQL, return 200s even in failure scenarios, which could lead to undercounting threats and failures. To enhance monitoring accuracy, organizations should develop a nuanced approach to response status, integrating threat intelligence and API specifications for a more comprehensive understanding of system interactions.