What is the PROPFIND method?
The PROPFIND method is a WebDAV extension (RFC 4918) used by clients to retrieve properties, such as metadata and structure, from a resource and optionally the members of a collection.
API Usage & Best Practices
- Control the depth: Use the
Depthheader to fetch properties for just the resource, its immediate children, or the whole tree. - Request specific properties: Send an XML body naming the properties you want, or ask for all names, to avoid oversized responses.
- Read-only: PROPFIND never mutates state, making it safe to retry and cache-neutral.
Common Response Codes
- 207 Multi-Status: The standard success response, carrying per-resource property results in an XML body.
- 404 Not Found: The target resource or collection does not exist.
