Use of PUT vs PATCH methods in REST API real life scenarios

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First of all, some definitions:

PUT is defined in Section 9.6 RFC 2616:

The PUT method requests that the enclosed entity be stored under the supplied Request-URI. If the Request-URI refers to an already existing resource, the enclosed entity SHOULD be considered as a modified version of the one residing on the origin server. If the Request-URI does not point to an existing resource, and that URI is capable of being defined as a new resource by the requesting user agent, the origin server can create the resource with that URI.

PATCH is defined in RFC 5789:

The PATCH method requests that a set of changes described in the
request entity be applied to the resource identified by the Request-
URI.

Also according to RFC 2616 Section 9.1.2 PUT is Idempotent while PATCH is not.

Now let us take a look at a real example. When I do POST to /users with the data {username: 'skwee357', email: 'skwee357@domain.com'} and the server is capable of creating a resource, it will respond with 201 and resource location (lets assume /users/1) and any next call to GET /users/1 will return {id: 1, username: 'skwee357', email: 'skwee357@domain.com'}.

Now let us say I want to modify my email. Email modification is considered “a set of changes” and therefore I should PATCH /users/1 with “patch document”. In my case it would be the json document: {email: 'skwee357@newdomain.com'}. The server then returns 200 (assuming permission are ok). This brings me to first question:

  • PATCH is NOT idempotent. It said so in RFC 2616 and RFC 5789. However if I issue the same PATCH request (with my new email), I will get the same resource state (with my email being modified to the requested value). Why is PATCH not then idempotent?

PATCH is a relatively new verb (RFC introduced in March 2010), and it comes to solve the problem of “patching” or modifying a set of fields. Before PATCH was introduced, everybody used PUT to update resources. But after PATCH was introduced, it leaves me confused about what PUT is used for. And this brings me to my second (and the main) question:

  • What is the real difference between PUT and PATCH? I have read somewhere that PUT might be used to replace entire entity under specific resource, so one should send the full entity (instead of set of attributes as with PATCH). What is the real practical usage for such case? When would you like to replace / overwrite an entity at a specific resource URI and why is such an operation not considered updating / patching the entity? The only practical use case I see for PUT is issuing a PUT on a collection, i.e. /users to replace the entire collection. Issuing PUT on a specific entity makes no sense after PATCH was introduced. Am I wrong?

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NOTE: When I first spent time reading about REST, idempotence was a confusing concept to try to get right. I still didn’t get it quite right in my original answer, as further comments (and Jason Hoetger’s answer) have shown. For a while, I have resisted updating this answer extensively, to avoid effectively plagiarizing Jason, but I’m editing it now because, well, I was asked to (in the comments).

After reading my answer, I suggest you also read Jason Hoetger’s excellent answer to this question, and I will try to make my answer better without simply stealing from Jason.

Why is PUT idempotent?

As you noted in your RFC 2616 citation, PUT is considered idempotent. When you PUT a resource, these two assumptions are in play:

  1. You are referring to an entity, not to a collection.

  2. The entity you are supplying is complete (the entire entity).

Let’s look at one of your examples.

{ "username": "skwee357", "email": "skwee357@domain.com" }

If you POST this document to /users, as you suggest, then you might get back an entity such as

## /users/1

{
    "username": "skwee357",
    "email": "skwee357@domain.com"
}

If you want to modify this entity later, you choose between PUT and PATCH. A PUT might look like this:

PUT /users/1
{
    "username": "skwee357",
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // new email address
}

You can accomplish the same using PATCH. That might look like this:

PATCH /users/1
{
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // new email address
}

You’ll notice a difference right away between these two. The PUT included all of the parameters on this user, but PATCH only included the one that was being modified (email).

When using PUT, it is assumed that you are sending the complete entity, and that complete entity replaces any existing entity at that URI. In the above example, the PUT and PATCH accomplish the same goal: they both change this user’s email address. But PUT handles it by replacing the entire entity, while PATCH only updates the fields that were supplied, leaving the others alone.

Since PUT requests include the entire entity, if you issue the same request repeatedly, it should always have the same outcome (the data you sent is now the entire data of the entity). Therefore PUT is idempotent.

Using PUT wrong

What happens if you use the above PATCH data in a PUT request?

GET /users/1
{
    "username": "skwee357",
    "email": "skwee357@domain.com"
}
PUT /users/1
{
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // new email address
}

GET /users/1
{
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"      // new email address... and nothing else!
}

(I’m assuming for the purposes of this question that the server doesn’t have any specific required fields, and would allow this to happen… that may not be the case in reality.)

Since we used PUT, but only supplied email, now that’s the only thing in this entity. This has resulted in data loss.

This example is here for illustrative purposes — don’t ever actually do this. This PUT request is technically idempotent, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a terrible, broken idea.

How can PATCH be idempotent?

In the above example, PATCH was idempotent. You made a change, but if you made the same change again and again, it would always give back the same result: you changed the email address to the new value.

GET /users/1
{
    "username": "skwee357",
    "email": "skwee357@domain.com"
}
PATCH /users/1
{
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // new email address
}

GET /users/1
{
    "username": "skwee357",
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // email address was changed
}
PATCH /users/1
{
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // new email address... again
}

GET /users/1
{
    "username": "skwee357",
    "email": "skwee357@gmail.com"       // nothing changed since last GET
}

My original example, fixed for accuracy

I originally had examples that I thought were showing non-idempotency, but they were misleading / incorrect. I am going to keep the examples, but use them to illustrate a different thing: that multiple PATCH documents against the same entity, modifying different attributes, do not make the PATCHes non-idempotent.

Let’s say that at some past time, a user was added. This is the state that you are starting from.

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Sam Kwee",
  "email": "skwee357@olddomain.com",
  "address": "123 Mockingbird Lane",
  "city": "New York",
  "state": "NY",
  "zip": "10001"
}

After a PATCH, you have a modified entity:

PATCH /users/1
{"email": "skwee357@newdomain.com"}

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Sam Kwee",
  "email": "skwee357@newdomain.com",    // the email changed, yay!
  "address": "123 Mockingbird Lane",
  "city": "New York",
  "state": "NY",
  "zip": "10001"
}

If you then repeatedly apply your PATCH, you will continue to get the same result: the email was changed to the new value. A goes in, A comes out, therefore this is idempotent.

An hour later, after you have gone to make some coffee and take a break, someone else comes along with their own PATCH. It seems the Post Office has been making some changes.

PATCH /users/1
{"zip": "12345"}

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Sam Kwee",
  "email": "skwee357@newdomain.com",  // still the new email you set
  "address": "123 Mockingbird Lane",
  "city": "New York",
  "state": "NY",
  "zip": "12345"                      // and this change as well
}

Since this PATCH from the post office doesn’t concern itself with email, only zip code, if it is repeatedly applied, it will also get the same result: the zip code is set to the new value. A goes in, A comes out, therefore this is also idempotent.

The next day, you decide to send your PATCH again.

PATCH /users/1
{"email": "skwee357@newdomain.com"}

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Sam Kwee",
  "email": "skwee357@newdomain.com",
  "address": "123 Mockingbird Lane",
  "city": "New York",
  "state": "NY",
  "zip": "12345"
}

Your patch has the same effect it had yesterday: it set the email address. A went in, A came out, therefore this is idempotent as well.

What I got wrong in my original answer

I want to draw an important distinction (something I got wrong in my original answer). Many servers will respond to your REST requests by sending back the new entity state, with your modifications (if any). So, when you get this response back, it is different from the one you got back yesterday, because the zip code is not the one you received last time. However, your request was not concerned with the zip code, only with the email. So your PATCH document is still idempotent – the email you sent in PATCH is now the email address on the entity.

So when is PATCH not idempotent, then?

For a full treatment of this question, I again refer you to Jason Hoetger’s answer. I’m just going to leave it at that, because I honestly don’t think I can answer this part better than he already has.

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