rest/urls

URL Conventions

The recommended conventions for RESTful URLs are those used by Ruby on Rails. Note that it is essential to use the proper HTTP verb for the desired action. Note that the principal unit of operation is the "collection", which typically corresponds to a database table or (in Rails) an ActiveRecord class. Following these conventions will allow your application to be consumed by ActiveResource, Jester, and other RESTful clients.

For a collection name "people", the primary routes would be:

Operate on the Collection

GET /people

return a list of all records

GET /people/new

return a form for creating a new record

POST /people

submit fields for creating a new record

Operate on a Record

GET /people/1

return the first record

DELETE /people/1

destroy the first record

GET /people/1/edit

return a form to edit the first record

PUT /people/1

submit fields for updating the first record

Follow a Relationship

GET /people/1/friends

return the collection of friends associated with the first person

GET /people/1/friends/1

return the first friend of that person

Invoke Custom Actions

It isn't always possible to may everything into Create-Retrieve-Update-Delete (CRUD). Thus, there is also a syntax for specifying custom actions:

POST /people/1/promote

run the "promote" action against the first record

These should be used sparingly, as they are unlikely to be supported by most clients.