HTTP status code
HTTP status code: 503 Service Unavailable
As text you can copy
503 Service Unavailable- Kind
- Status code
What does 503 Service Unavailable mean in HTTP?
The server cannot handle the request for now because of a temporary overload or scheduled maintenance, which is likely to ease after some delay. The server may send a Retry-After header to suggest how long to wait.
Risk warning: CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You can lose money on these products, and each provider publishes its own loss figure under FCA rules. You should consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Automated and API trading can amplify losses through bugs, connectivity failures and runaway orders.
What it means in trading API work
Maintenance windows, outages and overload show up as 503. Whether a market is open is a different matter: an API can be up while a market is closed, and that is normally reported through the API's own code.
This part is this site's own explanation, written for people learning to call a trading API. It is not part of the source cited above and it describes no particular broker.
What should I do about 503 Service Unavailable?
Honour Retry-After if the reply carries it, otherwise wait and retry with growing gaps. Check the provider's status page. For an order request, read open orders and positions before sending it again.
This page is an independent explanation in plain words. The definition itself is in the source it was read from, which is the authority if the two ever differ.