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#API geeks: does reliance on HTTP headers make an API not RESTful or less RESTful than one which includes key in the URL? /cc @steveklabnik

@damon almost entirely irrelevant. It depends on the specifics, really.

@damon what does your header do?

@steveklabnik identifies the client by API key in an X- header

@damon @steveklabnik I always thought HTTP headers were pivotal to RESTful APIs. The URL is supposed to be specific to a resource.

@damon @steveklabnik Ex. API version should be in headers and not URL

@howardr REST apis should not be versioned in the first place. /cc @damon

@damon as a means of authentication? I don't see a problem with that.

@damon as long as it doesn't affect the _addressability_, you should be fine.

@howardr @damon If the resource is significantly different due to an API change, I think a version # in the URL is valid.

@hayesdavis @damon I agree. It is a very pragmatic approach which IMO is good. However it was the only example I could think of

@damon I would think including the key in the URL would be less restful because the key isn't a part of the resource identifier.

@hayesdavis @howardr Agree. I like Howard's word 'pragmatic' to describe it. It's less 'pure' but helps clients to know what to expect.

@garrettdimon a good point. to me, the key seems completely irrelevant to the resource itself. it's purely for access control in this case.

@damon Keeping things in headers is tidy and easy to develop against. Not sure about “RESTful”, but that’s usually not my goal.

@damon Basically just copy GitHub and/or Heroku when doing API design. Therein lives goodness.