What it means
Architecture, not a data format
REST describes constraints such as resource identification, representations, cache behavior and a layered system. An HTTP API returning JSON is not automatically a fully REST-conforming design. The interface’s actual documented behavior matters.
Practical integration
Clients use the service’s resource model, HTTP semantics and authentication rules. A request’s method, cache policy and retry safety must be understood separately. A successful read does not authorize a write, and a POST request is not made safely repeatable just by calling the API RESTful.
Related concepts
In practice
A concrete example
A client retrieves an invoice resource and separately uses the documented action for a refund, following that action’s idempotency rules.
Technical notes & boundaries
HTTP method idempotency concerns intended effects, not identical response bytes or guaranteed exactly-once execution. REST is distinct from GraphQL and webhooks.
Go to the source.
Original references used for this definition. Product details and standards can change.