What is 302 Redirect? When Should You Use 302 Redirects?
A 302 Redirect is an instruction handled by a web server that redirects browsers from one URL to another. 302 redirect is typically used when redirection is considered temporary. If you expect the content to remain at the new URL, then a permanent redirect should be used (301). According to Google, any redirect of type 30x passes the value of the link to the new URL.
The 3 Real Scenarios When a 302 Redirect Happens During Grounding
Grounding systems behave differently depending on how they handle redirects.
Here are the actual outcomes.
Grounding follows the 302 → fetches the redirected page
This is the most common behavior.
What happens:
- LLM: “I think the answer is at URL A”
- Grounding: fetch URL A → gets 302 → follows to URL B
- Grounding content = content from URL B
- LLM uses that content to answer
Effect on RAG:
- Grounding succeeds
- BUT the content may be unrelated to what the LLM expected
- This causes:
- contradictions
- hallucinations
- mismatched citations
- “the answer doesn’t match the source” problems
Why?
Because the LLM’s internal knowledge was tied to URL A,
but grounding gives it content from URL B.
This is the most common failure mode.
Grounding does NOT follow the 302 → grounding fails
Some systems block redirects for safety or domain‑restriction reasons.
What happens:
- Grounding fetches URL A
- Gets 302
- Redirect following is disabled
- Grounding returns empty or error
Effect on RAG:
- The LLM has no grounding context
- It may:
- refuse to answer
- answer from internal knowledge
- hallucinate
- say “I don’t have enough information”
This is the “retrieval worked but grounding is empty” scenario.
Grounding follows the redirect but rejects the new domain
This happens when grounding has domain‑whitelisting or trust rules.
Example:
- URL A = https://docs.company.com/api
- Redirect → URL B = https://login.company.com/
What happens:
- Grounding follows redirect
- Sees new domain
- Rejects it for safety/trust reasons
- Returns no grounding
Effect on RAG:
- The LLM thinks it has a source
- Grounding refuses to use it
- The model answers with:
- fallback knowledge
- partial grounding
- or a refusal
This is common in enterprise RAG systems.
Summary: How 302 Redirects Affect Grounding (Not Retrieval)
| Scenario | What happens | Effect on RAG |
| 1. Redirect followed | Grounding fetches new page | Content mismatch → hallucinations |
| 2. Redirect blocked | Grounding fails | No grounding → fallback or refusal |
| 3. Redirect followed but domain rejected | Grounding discarded | Trust failure → degraded answer |
The core issue
The LLM expects content from URL A, but grounding gives content from URL B — or nothing at all.
This mismatch is what breaks the answer.
302 Redirect FAQ
What is 302 Redirect?
The HTTP 302 Found redirect status response code indicates that the resource requested has been temporarily moved.
When Should You Use 302 Redirects?
You would use this type of redirect if you want to send users to a new site or page for a short period of time.
Which is better 301 or 302 redirect?
Each redirect has a different purpose. For a permanent change that will rank for SEO, a 301 redirect is necessary and the 302 redirect should only be used if it is a temporary change, as unlike the permanent 301 redirect, the 302 is not cached.