REST - Wrong request method for updates

[wojciechkrol]

Hello devs,

I see you are using PUT request method to update collection data. PUT method should be used to create or update an existing item and requires the entire resource to be sent (update should replace the whole document).

In my opinion, you should change this method to PATCH which covers your usage. Why?

• Right now using PUT request when a resource does not exist, it does not create a new one when it should.
• We can send partial data (update just one field) and it updates only the selected field instead of replacing the whole document.
• See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28459418/use-of-put-vs-patch-methods-in-rest-api-real-life-scenarios

Best regards,

[jmikrut]

Hey @wojciechkrol —

You're totally right. This would be pretty significant breaking change though. I think if we were to make this change, it'd be before 1.0.

We could potentially open an endpoint for PATCH and leave the PUT alone for a while, with a corresponding log warning every time a PUT endpoint is used.

Then once we hit 1.0.0, we could retire the old PUT endpoint.

What do you think?

[wojciechkrol]

Hey @jmikrut,

I totally agree you shouldn't make breaking changes to keep existing projects working without refactoring. I think you can open an endpoint for PATCH requests and let people migrate as soon as possible.

Do you have any roadmap for 1.0.0?

[jmikrut]

Sure do—we just posted an update about this 😈

https://payloadcms.com/blog/upcoming-1-0

[wojciechkrol]

Hey @jmikrut,

I see you hit 1.0.4 🎉. Did you make an update to allow PATCH requests?

[wojciechkrol]

Hello @jmikrut

Could you enable PATCH request as an alternative for PUT?

[jmikrut]

Hey @wojciechkrol — do you mean just simply open another endpoint for PATCH, which would be duplicative to PUT? At this point we have decided to avoid breaking changes to our existing PUT endpoint, but exposing an additional PATCH could be doable if the question is just semantics.

What do you think?

[wojciechkrol]

Hey @jmikrut - Yes, just simply open another endpoint for PATCH which will duplicate PUT for now. Your previous idea to open PATCH and mark PUT as deprecated was great. You can implement PUT properly later on or just remove it.

For now PATCH fits better than PUT for current functionality.

[jmikrut]

OK - this is good stuff.

We would happily accept a PR for this if you're up for it! Would be simple. Need to add here:

https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/blob/master/src/collections/buildEndpoints.ts

Wanna take a shot?