POST
Submits data to the server, often creating a new resource. POST is neither safe nor idempotent—multiple identical requests may create multiple resources. The body typically contains the payload.
Properties
- Safe
- No
- Idempotent
- No
- Has body
- Yes
Typical use cases
Creating resources, form submissions, file uploads, actions with side effects
cURL example
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Alex"}' https://api.example.com/usersTypical response
{"id":123,"name":"Alex","created":true}Common status codes
200 OK201 Created400 Bad Request401 Unauthorized409 Conflict500 Server Error
Comparison with similar methods
POST creates; PUT replaces. POST is not idempotent—retrying may duplicate.