RFC 10008

HTTP Methods Explained: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE and the New QUERY Standard

HTTP methods define the actions a client requests from a server regarding a resource. The core semantics are outlined in RFC 9110, with extensions for specialized protocols. A new standardized method called QUERY was introduced in June 2026 via RFC 10008 to handle complex queries that include a request body while remaining safe and idempotent. The article details safe and idempotent properties, compares each method including GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, OPTIONS, TRACE, CONNECT, and QUERY, and explains their correct usage to avoid breaking caches, proxies, and infrastructure expectations. It also covers WebDAV extensions and other registered methods in the IANA registry.