name: rest-patterns description: "Quick reference for RESTful API design patterns, HTTP semantics, caching, and rate limiting. Triggers on: rest api, http methods, status codes, api design, endpoint design, api versioning, rate limiting, caching headers." allowed-tools: "Read Write"

REST Patterns

Quick reference for RESTful API design patterns and HTTP semantics.

HTTP Methods

Essential Status Codes

Resource Design

GET    /users              # List
POST   /users              # Create
GET    /users/{id}         # Get one
PUT    /users/{id}         # Replace
PATCH  /users/{id}         # Update
DELETE /users/{id}         # Delete

# Query parameters
GET /users?page=2&limit=20          # Pagination
GET /users?sort=created_at:desc     # Sorting
GET /users?role=admin               # Filtering

Security Checklist

• HTTPS/TLS only
• OAuth 2.0 or JWT for auth
• Validate all inputs
• Rate limit per client
• CORS headers configured
• No sensitive data in URLs
• Use no-store for sensitive responses

Common Mistakes

Quick Reference

When to Use

• Designing new API endpoints
• Choosing HTTP methods and status codes
• Implementing caching headers
• Setting up rate limiting
• Structuring error responses

Additional Resources

For detailed patterns, load:

• ./references/status-codes.md - Complete status code reference with examples
• ./references/caching-patterns.md - Cache-Control, ETag, CDN patterns
• ./references/rate-limiting.md - Rate limiting strategies and headers
• ./references/response-formats.md - Errors, versioning, bulk ops, HATEOAS