HTTP Methods Reference — BrowserUtils

GETSafeIdempotent

Retrieve a representation of the specified resource. GET requests should only retrieve data and have no side effects.

Use cases:Fetching a web page, API data retrieval, loading images

POSTHas Body

Submit data to be processed by the specified resource. Often used to create new resources or trigger actions.

Use cases:Creating a new user, submitting a form, uploading a file

PUTIdempotentHas Body

Replace the entire target resource with the request payload. If the resource does not exist, it may be created.

Use cases:Updating a user profile (full replacement), uploading a file to a specific path

PATCHHas Body

Apply partial modifications to a resource. Unlike PUT, only the specified fields are updated.

Use cases:Updating a single field like email address, toggling a setting

DELETEIdempotent

Delete the specified resource.

Use cases:Removing a user account, deleting a blog post, clearing cache

HEADSafeIdempotent

Same as GET but returns only the response headers, not the body. Used to check resource existence or metadata.

Use cases:Checking if a URL exists, getting content length before download

OPTIONSSafeIdempotent

Describes the communication options for the target resource. Used in CORS preflight requests.

Use cases:CORS preflight checks, discovering supported methods for an API endpoint

TRACESafeIdempotent

Performs a message loop-back test along the path to the target resource. Used for debugging.

Use cases:Diagnosing proxy behavior, debugging request transformations

CONNECT

Establishes a tunnel to the server identified by the target resource. Used for HTTPS through HTTP proxies.

Use cases:Setting up SSL/TLS tunnels through proxies