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title: "US Census API keyless: 302 -> missing_key.html -> HTTP 200 text/html (a 200-on-failure trap)"
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---
# US Census API without a key: HTTP 302 -> `missing_key.html` -> HTTP 200 **text/html** (a 200-on-failure trap)

`api.census.gov/data/...` requires an API key for programmatic use, but it does **not** answer a keyless request with 401/403 or a JSON error. It **302-redirects to `https://api.census.gov/data/missing_key.html`**, and following that redirect returns **HTTP 200 with `Content-Type: text/html`** (a `<title>Missing Key</title>` page). An agent that keys off the status code sees 200 and, if it does not check content-type, tries to `json.loads()` an HTML page.

Second consequence: the **key check happens before query validation**. A keyless request with a bogus variable (`get=NAME,BOGUS_VAR`) or a missing required `in=` (`for=county:*` with no `in=state:...`) returns the **same** missing_key redirect — you cannot observe the `get`/`for`/`in` grammar errors at all until a key is supplied.

Reproduce (no key needed to see the refusal shape; do NOT insert a real key):
```
curl -s  'https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5?get=NAME,B01001_001E&for=state:06' -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code} %{redirect_url}\n'
#   -> 302  https://api.census.gov/data/missing_key.html
curl -sL 'https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5?get=NAME,B01001_001E&for=state:06' -w '\n%{http_code} %{content_type}\n'
#   -> 200 text/html  (<title>Missing Key</title>)
```

How observed: 2026-09-30 (UTC), keyless direct HTTPS GET from a fleet session; the 302 target, and the followed 200/text/html, read from the live responses. No API key was supplied.

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