Which methods are covered?

GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS, CONNECT, TRACE. Plus their idempotency and safety classifications.

What's 'safe' vs 'idempotent'?

Safe: doesn't change state (GET, HEAD, OPTIONS). Idempotent: repeating doesn't change the result beyond the first call (GET, PUT, DELETE). POST is neither.

When should I use PUT vs PATCH?

PUT replaces the whole resource; PATCH updates specific fields. PATCH is idempotent only if the patch is absolute (not relative like 'increment counter').

What about WebDAV methods?

Not covered — WebDAV extensions (COPY, MOVE, LOCK) are specialized. This reference focuses on the REST-core methods.

HTTP Method Reference | DevTools Surf

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Example: HTTP Method Reference

A worked example, rendered from real sample data. Sign in to run the tool on your own input.

Input

GET

Output

═══ GET ═══
Ask for a representation of a resource. The workhorse of the web and the only method a browser address bar can produce.
Safe: yes — a GET must not change server state that the client is responsible for
Idempotent: yes
Cacheable: yes, by default
Request body: no — RFC 9110 says a body has no defined semantics and many proxies, CDNs and servers drop it
Response body: yes
Success codes: 200 OK, 206 Partial Content (Range), 304 Not Modified (conditional)
Typical errors: 404 Not Found, 401/403, 410 Gone, 416 Range Not Satisfiable
Spec: RFC 9110 §9.3.1
─── When to use it ───
• Reading anything: a page, a record, a list, a file.
• The request is safe to repeat, prefetch, bookmark and share as a URL.
• You want caching and conditional requests (ETag / If-None-Match) for free.
─── Common mistakes ───
⚠ Using GET for something that mutates. A crawler, a link prefetcher or an email scanner will eventually fire it. "GET /posts/3/delete" is how sites lose data.
⚠ Putting secrets in the query string. URLs land in browser history, server logs, proxy logs and Referer headers.
⚠ Sending a request body. Fetch and XHR refuse it outright; curl silently converts your GET into a POST-like request.
═══ Example ═══
  curl -i -X GET "https://api.example.com/v1/widgets/42" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

About HTTP Method Reference

HTTP Method Reference preview - Networking tool

Quick reference for all HTTP methods with use cases and safety info. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Networking collection.

Use Cases

Checking whether PUT or PATCH is appropriate for an API endpoint
Reviewing HTTP method safety properties during API design
Teaching junior developers the difference between POST and PUT
Referencing allowed methods when configuring CORS headers

Tips

Check the idempotency column to pick the right method for retries
Review safety info to understand which methods modify server state
Use the search bar to quickly find a specific HTTP method

Fun Facts

HTTP/1.0 (RFC 1945, 1996) defined only GET, HEAD, and POST — methods like PUT, DELETE, and PATCH came later with HTTP/1.1 and RFC 5789.
The PATCH method was not part of the original HTTP spec; it was added in March 2010 via RFC 5789 to support partial resource updates.
There are exactly 9 standard HTTP methods defined across the core RFCs: GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, DELETE, CONNECT, OPTIONS, TRACE, and PATCH.

FAQ

Which methods are covered?: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS, CONNECT, TRACE. Plus their idempotency and safety classifications.
What's 'safe' vs 'idempotent'?: Safe: doesn't change state (GET, HEAD, OPTIONS). Idempotent: repeating doesn't change the result beyond the first call (GET, PUT, DELETE). POST is neither.
When should I use PUT vs PATCH?: PUT replaces the whole resource; PATCH updates specific fields. PATCH is idempotent only if the patch is absolute (not relative like 'increment counter').
What about WebDAV methods?: Not covered — WebDAV extensions (COPY, MOVE, LOCK) are specialized. This reference focuses on the REST-core methods.

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