Does an existing resource need an API version in declaration?

[stan-sz]

Can the use of existing keyword eliminate the need to provide the api version in a resource definition? Or if both existing and api version exist would have the meaning of "resource exists and was created with the api version"?

[stan-sz]

Also mentioned in #622 (comment)

[anthony-c-martin]

With the exception of the .id, .name, .type & .apiVersion (which are code-genned by Bicep), a reference() function is required to orchestrate a GET request against the RP - which requires an api-version to be specified.

#622 has some suggestions that'll work for both existing and deployed resources alike, but I can't think of anything special about existing that would allow us to not require the api version.

You're probably aware, but for the sake of other people reading this discussion - one common misconception is that the platform stores the API version associated with a resource. In fact, it is purely a means of describing the data contract associated with a request - to provide a way of introducing changes without impacting existing API consumers. As a result, even when performing a GET, the platform still requires the api-version parameter to be specified - otherwise there is no way of safely ensuring an existing API consumer won't be broken by a change to the API.