Which HTTP code to use, in a REST API, for a subresource if the parent resource doesn't exist?

Question

My team and I are coding a REST API, but some concepts are still not fully understood.

In a given resource: objective/{id}/goal where goal is collection

If the consumer tries to reach an objective that doesn't exist, the API will return status code 404, pretty simple.

ex: objective/999 returns 404

For some reason the consumer tries to fetch the goals from this non existing resource:

ex: objective/999/goal returns ?

Which is the most suitable code to return? I have a feeling that this should be a 404 too. Some people are considering another error code, because the API should somehow inform that the parent resource doesn't exist in the first place.

Timothy Shields · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-15 17:24:23Z

7

Use 404. Keep in mind that a 404 response may contain a response body. So you could respond with something like the following:

Request
GET /objective/7/goal

Response
404 Not Found
{
    "type": "ParentNotFound",
    "description": "The parent resource was not found.",
    "parent_uri": "/objective/7"
}

In general, it's a good idea to include some kind of response body for error status codes. Even when the error status code is being used in a standard way, it's still nice as the API client to see a human message about why I'm seeing the error. The benefit is even greater when the error status code is being used in an almost standard yet slightly off way.

answered Oct 15, 2014 at 17:24

Timothy Shields

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1 Comment

Vitor Santos Over a year ago

This way both status code and information for the consumer are accomplished. Will mark as the solution!

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