HTTP method PUT

The HTTP PUT request method creates a new resource or replaces a representation of the target resource with the request payload.

The difference between PUT and POST is that PUT is idempotent: calling it once or several times successively has the same effect (that is no side effect).

Example

Request

PUT /new.html HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Content-type: text/html
Content-length: 16

<p>New File</p>

Response

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-Location: /new.html

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Location: /existing.html

If the target resource does not have a current representation and the PUT successfully creates one, then the origin server MUST inform the user agent by sending a 201 (Created) response. If the target resource does have a current representation and that representation is successfully modified in accordance with the state of the enclosed representation, then the origin server MUST send either a 200 (OK) or a 204 (No Content) response to indicate successful completion of the request.

An origin server SHOULD verify that the PUT representation is consistent with its configured constraints for the target resource. For example, if an origin server determines a resource’s representation metadata based on the URI, then the origin server needs to ensure that the content received in a successful PUT request is consistent with that metadata. When a PUT representation is inconsistent with the target resource, the origin server SHOULD either make them consistent, by transforming the representation or changing the resource configuration, or respond with an appropriate error message containing sufficient information to explain why the representation is unsuitable. The 409 (Conflict) or 415 (Unsupported Media Type) status codes are suggested, with the latter being specific to constraints on Content-Type values.