Re: Should the HTTP Method change when following a 303 redirect ?

[Amos Jeffries <[e-mail]>]

On 22/04/20 10:41 pm, Pof Magicfingers (Giovanni Olivera) wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I'm reaching out to you to clarify what behavior is expected regarding a
> 303 redirect.
> 
> I'm currently discussing about this with the cURL team, and we're not
> really sure if a user agent SHOULD or MAY change the HTTP method to GET
> or HEAD when following a 303 redirect. 
> You can read the discussion here : https://github.com/curl/curl/issues/5237
> 
> Reading RFC7231 at section-6.4.4
> <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-6.4.4>, it states that :
> 
>> A user agent can perform a retrieval request targeting that URI (a GET
> or HEAD  request if using HTTP)
>> [...]
>> This status code is applicable to any HTTP method.
> 
> But it seems unclear if the user agent SHOULD use a GET method when
> following the redirect,  regardless of the current method used, for a
> 303 redirect, of it should keep the current method used for the request
> inducing that redirect.

The Location URL in a 303 is defined for _retrieval_. Only retrieval
methods can be expected to work on it.

HTTP defined GET and HEAD for regular use, but other protocols may
define more methods for retrieval. So there is no requirement to use
GET/HEAD specifically. Those other protocol alternatives may be used if
the context needs one.


Amos