Error Handling⏱️ 2 min read📅 2026-06-03

How to Fix: How to respond with an HTTP 400 error in a Spring MVC @ResponseBody method returning String

Return HTTP 400 Bad Request when JSON is null.

Quick Answer: Use @ResponseStatus to explicitly return a 400 error with a custom message.

To fix this issue, you need to add error handling in your Spring MVC application. This can be achieved by using an exception handler or by returning a custom HTTP response.

This will help you catch any exceptions that occur during the execution of your controller methods and return a meaningful error message to the client.

💡 Why You Are Getting This Error

  • The issue arises because the matchService.getMatchJson(matchId) method is not properly handling null values. You need to add a null check to handle this scenario.
  • Another possible cause could be that the matchId parameter is empty or contains invalid data.

✅ Best Solutions to Fix It

Add Null Check

  1. Step 1: Check if the json variable is null before returning it. If it's null, return a custom HTTP response with a 400 error code.
  2. Step 2: Use the @ExceptionHandler annotation to handle any exceptions that occur during the execution of your controller methods.

Validate MatchId

  1. Step 1: Use the @PathVariable annotation to validate the matchId parameter. If it's empty or contains invalid data, return a custom HTTP response with a 400 error code.
  2. Step 2: Consider using a regex pattern to validate the matchId parameter.

✨ Wrapping Up

To fix this issue, you need to add proper error handling in your Spring MVC application. This can be achieved by adding null checks and exception handlers or by returning custom HTTP responses with meaningful error messages.

Did this fix your problem?

If not, try searching for specific error codes.

🔍 Search Error Database

❓ Frequently Asked Questions