Read HTTP status codes from the RFC in your shell

http-states

#!/bin/bash

_usage() {
    cat <<USAGE
usage: $(basename $0) STATUS_CODE

Print the RFC information about an HTTP status code.
USAGE
}

STATE=$1
CHAPTER=.
RFC=/usr/share/doc/RFC/links/rfc2616.txt.gz
READER=zcat

if [[ ! -f $RFC ]]; then
    echo "The RFC file could not be found at $RFC. Please install the doc-rfc package and try again." >&2
    exit 1
fi

if [[ $STATE ]]; then
  CHAPTER=${STATE:0:1}
fi

if [[ $STATE == "-h" || $STATE == "--help" ]]; then
    _usage
    exit 0
elif [[ ${#STATE} < 2 ]]; then
    # single digit: all 4?? for example
    $READER $RFC | \
        grep "^10\.$CHAPTER\." | \
        awk '{$1="";print}'
elif [[ ${#STATE} < 3 ]]; then
    # two digits
    $READER $RFC | \
        grep "^10\.$CHAPTER\." | \
        awk '{$1="";print}' | \
        grep "^\s*$STATE"
else
    # full 3 digits: show RFC info
    $READER $RFC | \
        sed -n "/^10\.$CHAPTER\.[0-9]\+ $STATE/,/^[^ ]/ p" | \
        sed '$d' | \
        sed 's/^10[^ ]\+ //'
fi