<h2 id="what-this-post-covers">What this post covers</h2>
<p>In this short post we are going to introduce five request verbs. If you are just starting, you do not need to know HTTP yet. You need five names, then one job each.</p>
<p>This is for juniors who can read a URL. We will name the five verbs, give each one job on a blog API, then cover three notes about the body and the path. You need almost nothing before you start. When you finish, you can look at a path and a verb and name the job.</p>
<p class="bd-statement">You need five names, then one job each.</p>

<h2 id="five-names-first">Five names first</h2>
<p>You will see these names on a blog API, on a path like <code>GET /api/blogs</code>. The five names come first, before any job.</p>
<ul class="bd-pills">
  <li class="bd-pill">GET</li>
  <li class="bd-pill">POST</li>
  <li class="bd-pill">PUT</li>
  <li class="bd-pill">DELETE</li>
  <li class="bd-pill">PATCH</li>
</ul>
<p>Next you get one job each.</p>

<h2 id="one-job-each">One job each</h2>
<p>The only app in this post is a blog API. The paths stay in the same family. The verb changes the job.</p>
<div class="table-responsive">
<table class="blog-table">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Verb</th>
      <th>Job</th>
      <th>Example</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td><code>GET</code></td>
      <td>Retrieve</td>
      <td><code>GET /api/blogs</code> brings back every blog in the app.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td><code>POST</code></td>
      <td>Add new data</td>
      <td><code>POST /api/blogs</code> sends information in the request so the app can build a new blog.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td><code>PUT</code></td>
      <td>Update an existing blog</td>
      <td><code>PUT /api/blogs/42</code> sends the data in the body of the request.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td><code>PATCH</code></td>
      <td>Update some fields</td>
      <td><code>PATCH /api/blogs/42</code> sends only the updated parts in the body.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td><code>DELETE</code></td>
      <td>Remove an existing blog</td>
      <td><code>DELETE /api/blogs/42</code> removes that blog.</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p class="bd-statement">Each verb has one job on this blog API.</p>

<h2 id="body-path-and-the-delete-mistake">Body, path, and the delete mistake</h2>
<p>Three last notes, then you are ready.</p>
<p>Body data can be sent only through <code>POST</code>, <code>PUT</code>, and <code>PATCH</code>. <code>GET</code> retrieves. <code>DELETE</code> removes. Neither of those two carries the blog fields in the body. MDN’s 2026 HTTP methods pages say the same thing in stricter words: a GET should not contain request content, and a DELETE should not contain a body.</p>
<p class="bd-callout bd-callout-warn">A common junior mistake is <code>/api/blog/:id/delete</code>. That looks like a delete. It is the wrong way.</p>
<div class="bd-grid">
  <div class="bd-card-muted">
    <p><strong>Wrong path</strong></p>
    <p><code>/api/blog/42/delete</code></p>
  </div>
  <div class="bd-card">
    <p><strong>Right verb and key</strong></p>
    <p><code>DELETE /api/blogs/42</code></p>
  </div>
</div>
<figure>
  <img src="https://techtipsbymoh.tor1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/techtipsbymoh-production/media/uploads/419d339e-b262-4c5b-93be-67c158cae5cb/blog/e1ed2281a350491b9d413e15795075a2_01-wrong-path-right-verb.png" alt="Two cream envelopes on a wooden mail sorter: one jammed in the wrong slot, one sitting correctly in the outgoing tray. Labels: wrong path, right verb.">
  <figcaption>The delete job is the DELETE verb plus a key in the path, not /delete at the end of the URL.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To retrieve, delete, or update one existing blog, put a key of that blog in the URL. A slug or an id. Do not put the job in the path. The verb names the job. The path names which blog.</p>

<h2 id="same-path-different-job">Same path, different job</h2>
<p>You can hear the same five names in the companion tip, <a href="/tips/five-request-verbs" rel="noopener noreferrer">Five request verbs</a>.</p>
<p class="bd-statement">Same path, different verb, different job.</p>

For juniors who can read a URL: name GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE, use each on a blog API, then see why /api/blog/:id/delete is the wrong way.

GET vs POST vs PUT vs PATCH vs DELETE

Five request verbs

For juniors who know the five verbs: name Content-Type, Accept, and Authorization, use each on a blog API, then keep the token out of the URL.

Five request verbs

More from the blog.

Request headers