Automatic CRUD in Detail

Chapter 9 showed THAT #[ApiResource] creates CRUD endpoints – now let's go through EACH one systematically, with REAL curl calls against our Project resource.

GET /api/projects: listing all projects

curl -k -H 'Accept: application/json' https://localhost/api/projects

POST /api/projects: creating a new project

curl -k -X POST https://localhost/api/projects \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"name": "Website Relaunch", "description": "Complete redesign"}'

{
  "@context": "/api/contexts/Project",
  "@id": "/api/projects/1",
  "@type": "Project",
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Website Relaunch",
  "description": "Complete redesign",
  "createdAt": "2026-08-06T12:00:00+00:00"
}

Responds with status 201 Created AND the COMPLETE object, now populated with a generated id and createdAt – WITHOUT us writing a single line of controller code. Content-Type: application/json in the request header MATTERS: API Platform expects application/ld+json by default for writes, but also accepts plain JSON.

GET /api/projects/{id}: fetching a single project

curl -k -H 'Accept: application/json' https://localhost/api/projects/1

PUT /api/projects/{id}: fully updating

curl -k -X PUT https://localhost/api/projects/1 \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"name": "Website Relaunch v2", "description": "Updated description"}'

Achtung: PUT expects the ENTIRE object – fields MISSING from the request body get (depending on configuration) reset to their default value. For PARTIAL updates, PATCH is the right tool.

PATCH /api/projects/{id}: partially updating

curl -k -X PATCH https://localhost/api/projects/1 \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/merge-patch+json' \
  -d '{"description": "Only the description changes"}'

Content-Type: application/merge-patch+json (RFC 7396) signals: change ONLY the given fields, leave ALL others UNCHANGED – the DECISIVE difference from PUT.

DELETE /api/projects/{id}: deleting

curl -k -X DELETE https://localhost/api/projects/1

Responds with 204 No Content – SUCCESSFUL, but with NO response body, since logically there's NOTHING left to return after a deletion.

Overview: all six standard operations

HTTP call	Operation
GET /projects	Fetch the collection (GetCollection)
POST /projects	Create new (Post)
GET /projects/{id}	Fetch a single item (Get)
PUT /projects/{id}	Fully replace (Put)
PATCH /projects/{id}	Partially update (Patch)
DELETE /projects/{id}	Delete (Delete)

Tipp: These SIX operations are API Platform's DEFAULT – chapter 12 shows how to activate ONLY SOME of them (e.g. a read-only resource with no POST/PUT/DELETE), and chapter 61 adds CUSTOM, additional operations beyond these six.