IETF Publishes RFC 10008, Introducing HTTP QUERY Method for Complex API Queries

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) published RFC 10008 in June 2026, formally introducing the HTTP QUERY method as a Proposed Standard. The new method was registered by IANA as both safe and idempotent, filling a long-standing gap in HTTP semantics. For years, API developers had to choose between cramming complex filters into unwieldy GET query strings or misusing POST — which is neither safe nor idempotent — purely to carry structured query bodies. The QUERY method allows a request body to carry complex, structured query data while preserving the semantic meaning of a read-only, repeatable operation. RFC 10008 clarifies that simple queries should still use GET, reserving QUERY for cases where filters are too large or structured to be expressed cleanly in a URI.
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