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HTTP Request Methods

A semantic guide to HTTP verbs, outlining their proper application, safety/idempotency rules, and common status code correlations.

CONNECT

UnsafeNon-Idempotent

Establishes a tunnel to the server identified by the target resource, typically through a proxy.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,405,407

COPY

UnsafeIdempotent

Copies a resource from its current location to the URI given in the Destination header, in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 201,204,207

GET

SafeIdempotentCacheable

Requests a representation of the specified resource. Requests using GET should only retrieve data.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,206,304,404

POST

UnsafeNon-Idempotent

Submits an entity to the specified resource, often causing a change in state or side effects on the server.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,201,202,400,409,422

PUT

UnsafeIdempotent

Replaces all current representations of the target resource with the request payload.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,204,400,404,412,422

PATCH

UnsafeNon-Idempotent

Applies partial modifications to a resource.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,204,400,404,412,422

DELETE

UnsafeIdempotent

Deletes the specified resource.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,202,204,404,409,410

OPTIONS

SafeIdempotent

Describes the communication options for the target resource.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,204

HEAD

SafeIdempotentCacheable

Asks for a response identical to a GET request, but without the response body.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,304,404

LOCK

UnsafeNon-Idempotent

Takes out a lock on a resource to prevent conflicting changes, in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,423

MKCOL

UnsafeIdempotent

Creates a new collection resource at the specified location in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 201,405,409

MOVE

UnsafeIdempotent

Moves or renames a resource to the URI given in the Destination header, in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 201,204,207

PROPFIND

SafeIdempotent

Retrieves properties defined on a resource, and optionally its member resources, in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 207,404

PROPPATCH

UnsafeIdempotent

Sets or removes properties on a resource atomically in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 207,409

QUERY

DraftSafeIdempotentCacheable

A proposed safe, idempotent method for sending a query as a request body, for cases where GET's URI-only constraints are impractical. Still an IETF Internet-Draft — not yet an RFC.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,400,404,406

SEARCH

SafeIdempotent

Runs a server-side query described in the request body against a resource, in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,207,422

TRACE

SafeIdempotent

Performs a message loop-back test along the path to the target resource for diagnostics.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 200,405

UNLOCK

UnsafeIdempotent

Removes a lock from a resource using the supplied lock token, in WebDAV.

Read semantic usage →Common Codes: 204,409