IETF Standardizes New HTTP QUERY Method to Fix Long-Standing API Design Dilemma

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has officially standardized a new HTTP method called QUERY, defined under RFC 10008, to address a decades-old compromise in web API design. Developers have long been forced to choose between GET, which is cacheable but limited by URL length constraints, and POST, which supports rich request bodies but lacks native caching support. The QUERY method combines the best of both: it is safe and idempotent like GET, while also accepting a request body like POST, making it explicitly cacheable by proxies and CDNs. This allows complex search criteria and sensitive filter parameters to be sent securely in the request body without exposing them in URLs or server access logs. However, adoption requires careful infrastructure review, as legacy firewalls and reverse proxies may block unrecognized HTTP verbs with a 405 error.