Method,Purpose,Safe,Idempotent,Cacheable,Typical Use
GET,Retrieve data,✅,✅,✅,"Fetching resources (e.g., /users)"
HEAD,Same as GET but without body,✅,✅,✅,"Checking metadata (e.g., file size, headers)"
POST,"Submit data, create resource",❌,❌,Sometimes,"Creating new entries (e.g., /users)"
PUT,Replace resource entirely,❌,✅,❌,"Updating/replacing (e.g., /users/123)"
PATCH,Partially update resource,❌,❌,Sometimes,"Updating specific fields (e.g., email only)"
DELETE,Remove resource,❌,✅,❌,"Deleting entries (e.g., /users/123)"
OPTIONS,Discover server capabilities,✅,✅,❌,Preflight requests in CORS
TRACE,"Debugging, echo request",✅,✅,❌,"Rarely used, security risk"
CONNECT,"Establish tunnel (e.g., HTTPS proxy)",❌,❌,❌,Used in SSL/TLS connections