529 Site is overloaded β
Meaning β
A non-standard code used by certain services (e.g., Qualys SSL Labs API) to indicate that the site (or service) is temporarily overloaded and cannot process the request.
When to Use β
When a service has a custom mechanism to signal overload separate from the standard 503. Qualysβs SSL Labs API, for example, uses 529 to tell clients that the server is busy or over capacity.
Example β
Querying the SSL Labs analysis API during peak times might result in a 529 Site is overloaded, meaning the service cannot handle the request at the moment and the client should try again later.
When Not to Use β
Do not use in general implementations as itβs not an official status code. For typical overload situations, 503 Service Unavailable (potentially with Retry-After) should be used. 529 is very specific to certain providersβ conventions.
Source β
Unofficial (Qualys SSL Labs)