HTTP request methods

HTTP defines a set of request methods to indicate the desired action to be performed for a given resource. Although they can also be nouns, these request methods are sometimes referred to as HTTP verbs. Each of them implements a different semantic, but some common features are shared by a group of them: e.g. a request method can be safe, idempotent, or cacheable.

GET

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

The HEAD method asks for a response identical to a GET request, but without the response body.

POST

The POST method submits an entity to the specified resource, often causing a change in state or side effects on the server.

PUT

The PUT method replaces all current representations of the target resource with the request payload.

DELETE

The DELETE method deletes the specified resource.

CONNECT

The CONNECT method establishes a tunnel to the server identified by the target resource.

OPTIONS

The OPTIONS method describes the communication options for the target resource.

TRACE

The TRACE method performs a message loop-back test along the path to the target resource.

PATCH

The PATCH method applies partial modifications to a resource.

Specifications

Specification Title Comment
RFC 7231, section 4: Request methods Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content Specifies GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, DELETE, CONNECT, OPTIONS, TRACE.
RFC 5789, section 2: Patch method PATCH Method for HTTP Specifies PATCH.

Browser compatibility

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See also