Should I POST to the collection when creating a resource with a known ID in my REST API?

Question

I'm implementing a new REST API. In this API I typically POST to collections to create resources. For one of my resources, the ID is known before it is created. Does it make more sense to post to the collection with the ID in the body or to post to the instance (as yet non-existent) with the ID in the URL?

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 03 '17 at 07:22

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I'd say keep the existing endpoint and just add the ID in the body when POSTing to that collection, there's no point in adding a new separate route for what's basically the same thing.

answered Aug 03 '17 at 07:22

Alexandru Marculescu

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rruimor · Answer 2 · 2021-08-03T10:49:20.060

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From another thread: https://stackoverflow.com/a/18474955/1851581

You can also use PUT with the ID in the URL, instead of POST.

PUT is used for upserting, covering mainly updates but also the creation of the resource if it doesn't exist.

edited Aug 03 '21 at 10:49

answered Sep 24 '20 at 07:05

rruimor

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 04 '17 at 14:58

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I ended up posting to the collection with the ID in the body. That keeps with the pattern elsewhere in my API. The only difference here is that the ID is supplied in the body.

answered Aug 04 '17 at 14:58

loweryjk

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Should I POST to the collection when creating a resource with a known ID in my REST API?

3 Answers3