REST API Recommendations

Return appropriate HTTP status codes with each response. Successful responses should be coded according to this guide:

200 OK: Request succeeded for a GET PATCH or PUT call that synchronously updated an existing resource
201 Created: Request succeeded for a POST call that completed synchronously
202 Accepted: Request accepted for a POST, PUT, DELETE, or PATCH call that will be processed asynchronously
204 No Content: Request accepted for a DELETE call that synchronously removed an existing resource.
206 Partial Content: Request succeeded on GET, but only a partial response returned: see filtering

Pay attention to the use of authentication and authorization error codes:

401 Unauthorized: Request failed because user is not authenticated
403 Forbidden: Request failed because user does not have authorization to access a specific resource

Return suitable codes to provide additional information when there are errors:

400 Bad Request: Your request could not be understood, due to e.g. malformed json
404 Not Found: Resource wasn't found
422 Unprocessable Entity: Your request was understood, but contained invalid parameters
429 Too Many Requests: You have been rate-limited, retry later
500 Internal Server Error: Something went wrong on the server, check status site and/or report the issue

Refer to the HTTP response code spec for guidance on status codes for user error and server error cases.