# SC203: In-flight response body was wrong

> SC203 (in-flight response body was wrong) means a request running at SIGTERM finished without the workload.bodyIncludes text. Check the handler and config.

Source: https://shutdown.jscrate.dev/docs/codes/sc203
Last updated: 2026-09-23

`SC203` means the response returned the expected status but did not contain
the text in `workload.bodyIncludes`. The request ended normally, but the result
does not prove that the expected work completed.

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Code | `SC203` (FAIL) |
| Stage | In-flight responses |
| CLI exit code | 1 |
| What it means | A request that was running when SIGTERM arrived finished, but its body did not contain `workload.bodyIncludes`. |
| Message | `In-flight response did not contain <workload.bodyIncludes>` |
| First thing to check | Check that the handler writes its full response during shutdown, and that `bodyIncludes` matches what it sends. |

## Why does it happen?

- The handler returned an error page with a success status.
- Shutdown skipped part of the operation.
- The response text changed but the config did not.
- The comparison uses different capitalization or whitespace.
- The expected text appears after the 1 MiB response capture limit.

## How do I fix it?

Run the route normally and choose a short, stable piece of text that appears
only after success:

```json title="shutdown-check.json"
{
  "workload": {
    "path": "/reports/export",
    "status": 200,
    "bodyIncludes": "export complete",
    "started": { "type": "probe", "path": "/test/work-active" }
  }
}
```

The match is case-sensitive. Avoid IDs, timestamps, or other values that
change on every run.

## How do I verify the fix?

Inspect the real response body and confirm the marker appears after successful
work. The next run should complete with the expected status and no SC203.

If the response is larger than 1 MiB, choose an earlier marker or test the
result through a smaller purpose-built endpoint. The captured prefix is the
part shutdown-check can inspect.

## Related

- [Prove the work completed](https://shutdown.jscrate.dev/docs/in-flight-work#prove-that-the-operation-completed)
- [Workload configuration](https://shutdown.jscrate.dev/docs/configuration#workload)
- [SC202: Wrong response status](https://shutdown.jscrate.dev/docs/codes/sc202)